Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The full Vol. 5, Iss. 1 is available from the publisher at: http://saipar.org/ojs-2.4.2/index.php/SAJPD/issue/view/10 and from McGill University's institutional repository at: https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/articles/n296x362t

Disability has attracted attention in international human rights and development circles and Zambian domestic policy. The purpose of this research was to explore the perceptions of Zambian disability policy stakeholders about the ways that two international initiatives, namely the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are being reflected in domestic policy. We collected data through semi-structured interviews with 22 policy stakeholders (12 disability advocates and 10 policymakers) and analysed these data using thematic analysis. The UNCRPD was perceived to be progressively integrated into Zambian disability policy although insufficiently implemented while the SDGs have provided rhetorical influence.

Abstract
Betty A. Weitz (1993) argued that democratic norms call for minimizing social inequalities that might occur in the praxes of various democratic institutions, Whereas she claimed that we should limit such inequalities to differences in the treatment of people that are only reflective of “natural inequalities.”  Contrastingly, Douglas C. Baynton (2016) argued that so-called “natural inequalities” have historically been used as one of the most prevalent justifications for social prejudice and unethical discrimination in American history.  The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) sought to address unjust discrimination against persons with disabilities. While the ADA empowers citizens with tools to redress related injustices, it also draws on an identity – disability – which unfortunately continues to be the source of social stigmatization. Such examples represent an ongoing epistemological tension around our concept of disability might be contributing to such harmful stigmatization, but more importantly to the pragmatic parts of life. For instance Joseph Grigely (2017) noted that college faculty members with disabilities struggle to obtain reasonable accommodations as mandated by the ADA.  In his work he not only specified many of the problems involved for college faculty who may need to request a reasonable accommodation, he did so while making an  argument as to why we should invest in these services for college faculty. His work offered us the insight needed to base our position. In this paper we will demonstrate how the problems that Grigely (2017) pointed to dually compound the operational problems faced by persons impacted by disability and the epistemological tension related to disability, namely within the U.S. institution of education Specifically, we will demonstrate how our nation’s systemic failure to understand college faculty with a disability not only harms persons thereby attached, but it also further complicates higher education’s existential ability to serve its purpose; i.e., to access knowledge and gather data as needed for society to effectively conceptualize, explain, and/or address praxes related to disability. In context, we pose that these shortcomings operate to harm the entire citizenship alike. In this paper we build on Grigely’s (2017) work to argue that our nation must begin to collect institutional data describing the population of faculty with a disability. In sum, we argue from a logical standpoint that institutions of higher education must gather systemic – national level – data that describes the basic demographical status of college faculty with a disability in the United States, as the institution of education and thereby related stakeholders have several inherently necessary interests related to understanding disability and avoiding prejudiced discrimination.
Keywords:  metaphysics, epistemology, Persons with Disabilities (PWD), disability, and prejudicial axioms

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) may require the abolition of the insanity defence and similar 'special defences' in criminal law. Proponents argue that abolishing the defence would advance efforts to fully recognise the legal capacity of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others; detractors suggest it would compound substantive discrimination and disadvantage facing an already marginalised population. This paper seeks to accelerate debates about the insanity defence and international human rights law with reference to Swedish criminal law, which saw the abolition of the insanity defence in 1965. Neither side of the debate appear to have considered the anomaly of Swedish criminal law. Equally, Swedish legislators concerned with this area of law have overlooked human rights-based considerations and instead, appear likely to reintroduce the insanity defence following longstanding domestic criticism of the scheme. This paper brings together developments in Sweden and international human rights law, and draws out conceptual and practical lessons in ongoing efforts to secure due process rights and substantive equality for people with disabilities in criminal law.

This report reviews the evidence for the types of human rights violations experienced by people with mental and psychosocial disabilities in low-income and middle-income countries as well as strategies to prevent these violations and promote human rights in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The article draws on the views, expertise, and experience of 51 people with mental and psychosocial disabilities from 18 low-income and middle-income countries as well as a review of English language literature including from UN publications, non-governmental organisation reports, press reports, and the academic literature.

As part of the UCL Grand Challenges Global Health Scheme, this project investigated and compared international efforts to raise awareness and combat stigma towards people with intellectual disabilities. This report outlines the background information gathered through the analysis of State Party reports submitted to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). It also outlines an in depth analysis of the results of survey that we developed and disseminated to further investigate the efforts made at local, regional and international levels to raise awareness and combat stigma. We suggest future recommendations on the basis of this scoping review.

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland commissioned Disability Action’s Centre on Human Rights for People with Disabilities to carry out research to identify key strategic issues/barriers in public policies and programmes to the full implementation in Northern Ireland of the UNCRPD. The main aim of this research was to identify areas of substantive shortfalls in public policy and programme delivery in Northern Ireland relative to the key requirements of Articles 5-31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which will influence the implementation of the UNCRPD.

O livro “Acessibilidade e Desenho Universal na Aprendizagem” apresenta muitas contribuições relevantes para os interessados na temática. Nesse sentido, destaco aqui três dessas contribuições para motivar o leitor a buscar a leitura do livro. A primeira diz respeito ao material produzido em rede. O livro sustenta-se na produção de dois grupos de duas diferentes universidades que têm trabalhado sistematicamente no desenvolvimento dos seus núcleos de acessibilidade, a Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro e a Universidade do Sul e Sudoeste do Pará. A segunda é a temática Acessibilidade e Desenho Universal, ainda que explicada no decorrer do livro, não é objeto de um estudo teórico, mas de um princípio fundante em toda a organização da obra,  rindando-nos com bons exemplos de como construir livros nessa perspectiva.
Por fim, outro destaque é o foco para a questão da aprendizagem, mostrando possibilidades e um trabalho comprometido com os processos inclusivos, retirando essa responsabilidade exclusivamente do aluno, como, ainda, é bastante comum na cultura e nos discursos nas escolas e nas universidades quando se trata de pessoas com deficiências.
Diante desse conjunto de contribuições, dentre outras, o livro, que foca a Educação Superior, mas também se aplica à Educação Básica, com certeza será uma relevante ajuda a todos os profissionais preocupados e atuantes nessa temática.

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER ON THE RECURRENT AND INDEFINITE DETENTION OF PEOPLE WITH COGNITIVE AND PSYCHIATRIC IMPAIRMENT
A Submission to the Senate Inquiry on the Indefinite Detention of People with Cognitive and Psychiatric Impairment
Prepared by:
FIRST PEOPLES DISABILITY JUSTICE CONSORTIUM
An alliance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community organisations, disability, justice and legal researchers, Universities and Research Institutes.
An initiative of First Peoples Disability Network (Australia), its strategic partners and supports.
April 2016

In 2010, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI), as part of the Independent Mechanism in Northern Ireland, contracted research to develop an expert paper to set out robust evidence of any substantive shortfalls in public policy and programme delivery in Northern Ireland relative to the key requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD); highlighting any key issues/barriers to full implementation. The report, ‘Disability programmes and policies: How does Northern Ireland measure up?’ was published by ECNI in 2012. The present report was commissioned by the ECNI to update the 2012 Report and to contribute to the evidence base the ECNI will draw upon in its engagement with the examination of the United Kingdom by the UNCRPD in 2014 and 2015.

First paragraph ...
In 2012 we reported that Australian mental health legislation was on the verge of a revolution. That revolution has begun. It has been clear for some time that the criteria for detention and involuntary treatment for mental illness would need to be revised and remodelled in light of the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (‘CRPD’). Article 12, one of the key provisions of the CRPD, requires states parties to replace involuntary treatment provisions in mental health laws with a new model of ‘supported decision-making’. While there is still some debate about exactly what a supported decision-making model would entail in mental health, in broad terms it requires that treatment decisions must be made by the person themselves as often as possible – rather than through involuntary orders made by doctors and tribunals – with support being made available to assist the person in making decisions if they wish. It also requires that substituted decision-making, including via involuntary treatment orders, may occur only in very limited circumstances, if indeed it is to be permitted at all. In any case, substituted decisions must reflect the person’s known ‘will and preferences’ (using the language of the CRPD) rather than paternalistic formulae such as the ‘best interests’ tests traditionally used in guardianship schemes.