Art.49 Accessible Format

This chapter examines Article 49 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The importance of Article 49 CRPD is threefold. Firstly, it facilitates the dissemination of the CRPD by requiring that the Convention be made available in accessible formats. Secondly, this provision has the potential to set a benchmark for the accessibility of the CRPD text, but also of CRPD-related materials, such as CRPD educational materials. Thirdly, the impact of this article has the potential to go beyond the CRPD and in the development of an accessibility standard for all treaties. The chapter explores these issues in more depth. It also discusses the connection between Article 49 CRPD and other provisions of the Convention, including Article 8 (awareness-raising), Article 9 (accessibility), Article 21 (freedom of expression and opinion and access to information), Article 24 (education), Article 29 (participation in political and public life), and Article 33 (national implementation and monitoring).

Art.43 Consent to Be Bound

This chapter examines Article 43 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The formal act by which a state consents to be bound by a treaty is expressed through ratification. The various legal terms used to denote such consent (ie acceptance, approval, or accession) produce the same functional and legal effect in the international sphere. Their differences lie chiefly in the states’ internal/constitutional sphere. Article 43 CRPD departs from equivalent provisions in other treaties under the UN aegis, as well as other multilateral treaties, at least in phrasing. Other multilateral treaties specifically distinguish between the two classical types of consent: a) that which is open to signatory states, namely ratification, acceptance and approval and; b) that which is open to non-signatories, namely accession. Article 43 does not make this distinction explicit. Its wording seems to suggest that acceptance and approval are excluded from its ambit, but given that both of these produce exactly the same legal effects as ratification, the distinction is practically meaningless.

Art.38 Relationship of the Committee with Other Bodies

This chapter examines Article 38 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which aims to foster cooperation between the Committee and a wide range of entities—inter-governmental, governmental, or private—with a view towards enhancing its work in the field of disability rights and protection. Unlike the past, recent practice within the UN has effectively abolished most barriers that prevented human rights treaty bodies from openly and officially communicating with external actors, at least in respect of country reports and general interaction in issues of common interest. In some cases, treaty bodies have proceeded to initiate a confidential inquiry on the basis of information received by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Article 38 not only allows the Committee to receive information, expert advice, and reports from other UN bodies, national human rights institutions, NGOs, but also renders such representation by specialized agencies and UN organs an entitlement.

Art.37 Cooperation between States Parties and the Committee

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Committee oversees the implementation of the CRPD by its states parties through an assessment of periodic reports and by hearing disputes submitted under the CRPD’s Optional Protocol. Article 37 CRPD contains two distinct obligations: that owed by the signatory states of cooperation with the Committee (article 37(1)), and that of the Committee to bear in mind the need to augment domestic capacities to give effect to the CRPD (article 37(2)). An understanding of the import of this turns on the ‘ordinary meaning’ of the words used ‘in their context’ and bearing in mind their ‘object and purpose’. Accordingly, this chapter examines various relevant features and looks at the practice of the Committee to date in order to suggest the meaning of these obligations.

Art.35 Reports by States Parties

This chapter examines Article 35 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which sets out the requirements for reporting by states parties to the CRPD Committee. It begins with an overview of the background and travaux préparatoires of Article 35. Although the reporting requirements were discussed at several sessions of the Ad Hoc Committee, it was not until the sixth session, in August of 2005, when the Committee considered the substantive proposals related to Article 35. The following sections of the chapter discuss each paragraph of Article 35, including what constitutes a ‘comprehensive’ country report, as required under Article 35(4). The final section compares the language of Article 35 with the reporting requirements of other human rights treaties, followed by a conclusion.

Art.33 National Implementation and Monitoring

This chapter examines Article 33 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The overarching objective of Article 33 is to provide the CRPD with a means of review, further develop existing structures relating to the implementation of the CRPD by states parties, and further establish a framework structure for monitoring national implementation. These provisions spell out the existing obligations of a state party under the CRPD by introducing the essential elements of such frameworks (minimum standard). Article 33 sets forth stand-alone, positive obligations that relate to institutional and procedural prerequisites intended to ensure effective implementation and arrangements aimed at making it possible to address any deficits in implementation that may arise.

Art.32 International Cooperation

This chapter examines Article 32 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which deals with the issue of international cooperation. The provision on international cooperation in the CRPD sprang from framework conventions in the international criminal and environmental law spheres, where such provisions are ubiquitous, rather than from prior human rights treaty practice. Article 32 was thus a highly contentious text to negotiate due to the far more limited meaning ascribed to the term ‘international cooperation’ in other international human rights instruments. Article 32 sits holistically within the CRPD framework, and is thus informed by its principles and general obligations, and should be read in conjunction with the specific, substantive rights of the remainder of the treaty. Rights and duties in the CRPD hang together; discerning the meaning of disability inclusive development cannot be achieved by examining any one provision in isolation.

Art.23 Respect for Home and the Family

This chapter examines Article 23 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The right to family life and its various components have long been recognized by international human rights law and in regional human rights instruments. Despite this long tradition of protecting the family in human rights law, persons with disabilities have long been subject to serious violations of their right to family life. The prevailing stereotype has considered persons with disabilities asexual, which has led to the denial of their sexual autonomy. The right to family life also encompasses all forms of relationships and parenthood. To be truly equal members of society, persons with disabilities must achieve equality of opportunity in these areas as well. This requires significant attitudinal change, empowerment, dismantling of barriers, and support to experience intimate relationships.

Art.20 Personal Mobility

This chapter examines Article 20 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Personal mobility is a prerequisite for inclusion in a society. According to the European Court of Human Rights, to be mobile and to have access to transport, housing, cultural activities, and leisure is a precondition for the ‘right to establish and develop relations with other human beings’, ‘in professional or business contexts as in others’. The CRPD does not establish new rights for persons with disabilities. It is merely thought to identify specific actions that states and others must take to ensure the effectiveness and inclusiveness of all human rights and to protect against discrimination on the basis of disability. However, the fact that there is no equivalent of the right to personal mobility in any other human rights treaty makes it particularly interesting to examine the genesis and meaning of this provision.

Art.15 Protection against Torture and Cruel or Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

This chapter examines Article 15 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which prohibits torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment (CIDTP), irrespective of the circumstances and the victim’s behaviour. Article 15 rights overlap with rights under other CRPD articles, including the right to legal capacity on an equal basis with others under Article 12; the right to liberty and security under Article 14; the right to protection against violence, exploitation and abuse under Article 16; the right to physical and mental integrity under Article 17 and; the right to health care on an equal basis with others and based on informed consent under Article 25.