The Supreme Court of Canada has clarified what people with HIV can do to avoid being criminally charged.
The court has ruled people who have low-levels of the disease and wear a condom do not have to inform sex partners about their condition.
The same court had ruled in 1998 anyone who did not could be charged with aggravated sex assault.
The judges credit advances in medicine that help reduce the chance of transmission.
But lawyer Michael Feder says his client in the case, the BC Civil Liberties Association, is disappointed.
“There is some progress, I expect, in the sense that we now have clarity about the significance of condom use and about the significance of condom use and about the significance of anti-retroviral treatment.”
But Feder says the association had argued that sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, should be treated primarily as a public health issue, and not as a matter of criminal law.
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