Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities

Preamble The States Parties To The Present Convention

What is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)?

Recalling the principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations which recognize the inherent dignity and worth and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Recognizing that the United Nations, in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the International Covenants on Human Rights, has proclaimed and agreed that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth therein, without distinction of any kind,

Reaffirming the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and interrelatedness of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and the need for persons with disabilities to be guaranteed their full enjoyment without discrimination,

Recalling the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families,

Emphasizing the importance of mainstreaming disability issues as an integral part of relevant strategies of sustainable development,

Have agreed as follows :

Promoting Rights Of Persons With Disabilities

Canada ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010.

The CRPD is an international human rights treaty aimed at protecting the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities without discrimination and on an equal basis with others

Parties to the CPRD are required to promote and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights of persons with disabilities including full equality under the law.

Obligations Under The Convention

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities monitors the Convention. Governments that ratify the Convention are legally bound to treat persons with disabilities as citizens with clearly defined rights. These countries also agree to enact laws and other measures to improve disability rights and to abolish legislation, customs and practices that discriminate against persons with disabilities.

An Optional Protocol on Communications was adopted at the same time as the Convention. This 18-article Protocol allows individuals with disabilities and groups of individuals with disabilities to petition the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for assistance once all national recourse procedures have been exhausted.

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Reports By States Parties

Each State Party shall submit to the Committee, through the Secretary-General of the United Nations, a comprehensive report on measures taken to give effect to its obligations under the present Convention and on the progress made in that regard, within two years after the entry into force of the present Convention for the State Party concerned.

Thereafter, States Parties shall submit subsequent reports at least every four years and further whenever the Committee so requests.

The Committee shall decide any guidelines applicable to the content of the reports.

A State Party which has submitted a comprehensive initial report to the Committee need not, in its subsequent reports, repeat information previously provided. When preparing reports to the Committee, States Parties are invited to consider doing so in an open and transparent process and to give due consideration to the provision set out in article 4, paragraph 3, of the present Convention.

Reports may indicate factors and difficulties affecting the degree of fulfilment of obligations under the present Convention.

United Nations Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities : and Optional ...

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international human rights convention which sets out the fundamental human rights of people with disability.

The purpose of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.

It is made up of two documents, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which contains the main human rights provisions expressed as a series of Articles and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The CRPD and its Optional Protocol opened for signature on 30 March 2007 and Australia became one of the original signatories. The CRPD entered into force for Australia on 16 August 2008, and the Optional Protocol in 2009.

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Report Of The Committee

The Committee shall report every two years to the General Assembly and to the Economic and Social Council on its activities, and may make suggestions and general recommendations based on the examination of reports and information received from the States Parties. Such suggestions and general recommendations shall be included in the report of the Committee together with comments, if any, from States Parties.

Equal Recognition Before The Law

States Parties reaffirm that persons with disabilities have the right to recognition everywhere as persons before the law.

States Parties shall recognize that persons with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life.

States Parties shall take appropriate measures to provide access by persons with disabilities to the support they may require in exercising their legal capacity.

States Parties shall ensure that all measures that relate to the exercise of legal capacity provide for appropriate and effective safeguards to prevent abuse in accordance with international human rights law. Such safeguards shall ensure that measures relating to the exercise of legal capacity respect the rights, will and preferences of the person, are free of conflict of interest and undue influence, are proportional and tailored to the personâs circumstances, apply for the shortest time possible and are subject to regular review by a competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial body. The safeguards shall be proportional to the degree to which such measures affect the personâs rights and interests.

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The Convention Comes Into Force

The UN General Assembly set up an ad hoc committee in December 2001 that considered proposals and held sessions to negotiate the content of the Convention.16 These negotiations were completed in just three years less time than any of the other core international human rights treaties and involved not only governments but also nongovernmental organizations, international organizations and national human rights institutions.17

The Convention and its Optional Protocol were adopted on 13 December 2006 during the 61st session of the UN General Assembly. The Convention opened for signature at the UN headquarters in New York on 30 March 2007 and came into force on 3 May 2008. When the Convention and its Optional Protocol were opened for signature, a record number of UN member states signed them.18 As of 2021, there were 184 parties to the CRPD and 100 parties to the Optional Protocol.19

Canada’s Implementation Of The Convention

#COSP11 – Conference on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The Convention requires that states parties submit regular reports regarding their implementation of the Convention, including an initial report that sets out the country’s constitutional, legal and administrative framework for implementation. According to Canada’s first periodic report, the existing legal framework in Canada at the time of ratification provided the necessary tools to implement the Convention without the need for additional legislation. This framework included the following:

the Canadian Bill of Rights, which applies to federal laws and protects fundamental freedoms, legal rights and equality before the law 57
the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which applies to all government action and guarantees all individuals fundamental freedoms and rights, including an explicit equality rights guarantee for persons with disabilities
federal, provincial and territorial human rights legislation that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability with respect to employment, the provision of goods, services and facilities, and that recognizes the duty to accommodate persons with disabilities up to the point of undue hardship and
specific federal, provincial, and territorial laws and policies governing areas that impact persons with disabilities, such as social benefits programs, disability insurance plans and housing programs.58

Furthermore, the group noted that

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United Nations Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities And Its Optional Protocol 2008

The Convention follows decades of work by the United Nations to change attitudes and approaches to persons with disabilities. It takes to a new height the movement from viewing persons with disabilities as objects of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing persons with disabilities as subjects with rights, who are capable of claiming Continued

The Crpd Committee Opens Its 27th Session This Coming Monday 15th August

This coming Monday 15th August, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will initiate its 27th session. With flexibility for remote participation by stakeholders who might require it, this session will benefit from a great level of participation by organizations of persons with disabilities and civil society organizations.

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Un Committee On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities

The Convention has been designed to ensure not only that the treaty is properly implemented by a state but also that there is a followup process to ensure active and participatory monitoring of the state’s progress in meeting its obligations by independent mechanisms, civil society and the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities . Within two years of ratification of the CRPD, each state party is obligated to provide an initial report to this committee, setting out its constitutional, legal and administrative framework for implementation. The UN Committee, which is made up of independent experts nominated by member states for up to two fouryear terms, makes suggestions and general recommendations as part of the review of each report .30 Subsequent reports track progress made in realizing the rights of persons with disabilities as a result of the implementation of the Convention while responding to the challenges, concerns and other issues highlighted by the UN Committee.

The UN Committee’s reports may also be used by the OHCHR or other stakeholders when gathering information for a member state’s Universal Periodic Review of its human rights record before the United Nations Human Rights Council.31

The Optional Protocol To The Uncrpd

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With ...

The Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD is a side-agreement to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It was adopted on 13 December 2006, and entered into force at the same time as its parent Convention on 3 May 2008. As of December 2021, it has 94 signatories and 100 state parties.

The Optional Protocol establishes an individual complaints mechanism for the UNCRDP. States Parties who ratify the Optional Protocol agree to recognise the competence of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to consider complaints from individuals or groups who claim their rights under the Convention have been violated. The Committee can request information from and make recommendations to a party. In addition, States Parties may permit the Committee to investigate, report on and make recommendations on “grave or systematic violations” of the Convention. States Parties may opt out of this latter obligation on signature or ratification.

As of August 2022, Ireland has not yet ratified the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD.

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Economic Social And Cultural Rights

The CRPD has many “freedoms to”, guarantees that states will provide housing, food, employment, health care, and personal assistance, set forth in the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. These are positive obligations that the state will act, going beyond the promises of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Respect for the family

Article 23 of the Convention prohibits compulsory sterilization of disabled persons and guarantees their right to adopt children.

Right to education

The convention’s Article 24 states that persons with disabilities should be guaranteed the right to inclusive education at all levels, regardless of age, without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunity. It specifies that children with disabilities must have effective access to free and compulsory primary and secondary education adults with disabilities have access to general tertiary education, vocational training, adult education and lifelong learning and more.

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities‘ General Comment Number 4, adopted in August 2016, stressed the importance of inclusive education and condemned segregated education. The Comment was opposed by organizations including the World Blind Union and the World Federation of the Deaf which unsuccessfully argued for a “sensory exception” to recognize the importance of cultural and linguistic rights.

Right to health

Habilitation and rehabilitation

Work and employment

The Un Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and was opened for signature on 30 March 2007. There are currently 177 ratifications to the CRPD and 92 ratifications to its Optional Protocol.

The CRPD is a landmark international treaty. It is a comprehensive human rights convention and international development tool, and is at the heart of the disability rights movement.

Read the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol in the UN languages, and other translations.

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Disability: The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities

There are around 1 billion people with disability in the world. They are often the poorest of the poor. The stigma and discrimination they suffer are common in all societies. People with disability are often denied chances to work, attend school and participate fully in society – which creates barriers for their prosperity and well-being. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is important because it is a tool for ensuring that people with disability have access to the same rights and opportunities as everybody else.

The Convention is a human rights treaty designed by representatives of the international community – including people with disability, government officials, representatives of nongovernmental organizations and others – to change the way people with disability are viewed and treated in their societies.

The Convention challenges people worldwide to understand disability as a human rights issue. The Convention covers many areas where obstacles can arise, such as physical access to buildings, roads and transportation, and access to information through written and electronic communications. The Convention also aims to reduce stigma and discrimination, which are often reasons why people with disability are excluded from education, employment and health and other services.

Involvement Of Representative Organisations

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD): key features

Organisations representing disabled persons were present throughout the negotiation process and their voices, including that of the European Disability Forum , were heard

The Belgian Disability Forum , as representative of Belgium within the EDF, has regularly participated in defining EDF positions in this process

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Liberty And Security Of Person

States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others:

Enjoy the right to liberty and security of person

Are not deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily, and that any deprivation of liberty is in conformity with the law, and that the existence of a disability shall in no case justify a deprivation of liberty.

States Parties shall ensure that if persons with disabilities are deprived of their liberty through any process, they are, on an equal basis with others, entitled to guarantees in accordance with international human rights law and shall be treated in compliance with the objectives and principles of the present Convention, including by provision of reasonable accommodation.

Conference Of States Parties

The States Parties shall meet regularly in a Conference of States Parties in order to consider any matter with regard to the implementation of the present Convention.

No later than six months after the entry into force of the present Convention, the Conference of States Parties shall be convened by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. The subsequent meetings shall be convened by the Secretary-General biennially or upon the decision of the Conference of States Parties.

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Situations Of Risk And Humanitarian Emergencies

States Parties shall take, in accordance with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law, all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies and the occurrence of natural disasters.

Icipation In Political And Public Life

To ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in political and public life on an equal basis with others, directly or through freely chosen representatives, including the right and opportunity for persons with disabilities to vote and be elected, inter alia, by:
Ensuring that voting procedures, facilities and materials are appropriate, accessible and easy to understand and use
Protecting the right of persons with disabilities to vote by secret ballot in elections and public referendums without intimidation, and to stand for elections, to effectively hold office and perform all public functions at all levels of government, facilitating the use of assistive and new technologies where appropriate
Guaranteeing the free expression of the will of persons with disabilities as electors and to this end, where necessary, at their request, allowing assistance in voting by a person of their own choice

To promote actively an environment in which persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others, and encourage their participation in public affairs, including:

Participation in non-governmental organizations and associations concerned with the public and political life of the country, and in the activities and administration of political parties

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Idas Compilations Of Crpd Committees Concluding Observations

The CRPD Committee has undertaken more than 100 State reviews in a total of 27th sessions. Consequently, the Committee has adopted more than 100 Concluding Observations that include detailed recommendations to State Parties to implement the CRPD. These recommendations conform the main body of the CRPD Committee’s jurisprudence and reflect the interpretation by the Committee under each article.

How The Uk Is Doing

The UN last examined how well the UK is implementing the treaty and published its recommendations in August 2017. These included:

recognising and enforcing the right of disabled people to live independently, be included in the community, and choose where they live and who they live with
ensuring that social security policies protect the income of disabled people and their families, allowing for the extra costs that come with disability
removing barriers to ensure that disabled people can access decent work and equal pay
taking action to combat any negative or discriminatory stereotypes or prejudice against disabled people in public and the media
ensuring disabled people have equal rights to justice by providing appropriate legal advice and support
involving disabled people and disabled peoples organisations in planning and implementing all laws and policies affecting disabled people
incorporating CRPD into domestic law to ensure that people can take legal action if their rights have been breached