Implementation Of The Right Of Disabled People To Independent Living

This report discusses the implementation of the right of disabled people to independent living in the context of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which was ratified by the UK in 2009. It draws attention to a number of significant human rights issues, including: the need for freestanding legislation to protect the right to independent living in UK law; the effect of current reforms to benefits and services on the ability of disabled people to enjoy independent living; the role played by the UNCRPD in policy development and decision making at all levels of government; the use of equality impact assessments; the effects of devolution on implementation of the UNCRPD; and hate crime. The right to independent living does not exist as a freestanding right in UK law. Although it is protected and promoted to some extent by a matrix of rights, the Committee believes that this is not enough. It argues that the Government and other interested parties should immediately assess the need for, and feasibility of, legislation to establish independent living as a freestanding right. The Committee finds that reforms to benefits and services risk leaving disabled people without the support they need to live independently. It also finds that the Government had not conducted an assessment of the cumulative impact of current reforms on disabled people. This report urges them do so, and to report on the extent to which these reforms are enabling them and local authorities to comply with their obligations under the UNCRPD

Government response to HL 257/HC 1074, session 2010-12 (ISBN 9780108475320)

Recognising the right to live in the community is about enabling people to live their lives to their fullest within society and access the public sphere. A precondition for anyone to enjoy all their human rights, this right is taken for granted by the majority of the population, but is often denied to persons with disabilities, who are instead placed in segregated institutions or in settings which isolate them from the rest of the community. This Issue Paper describes the challenges faced by Council of Europe member states in complying with this right. It traces the right of people with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community to its origins in the most fundamental human rights standards both within the Council of Europe and United Nations systems. The paper draws on Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to identify the various forms that violations of this right can take, and provides guidance for community-based responses governed by choice, in order to achieve inclusion and participation. The paper shows the link between the right to live in the community and other rights, notably the rightto equal recognition before the law (legal capacity). The Issue Paper ends with a sample of indicators and guidance questions to assess the transition from violationto implementation of the right to live in the community. The Commissioner’s recommendations on the right to live independently and be included in the community are published at the beginning of the document.

This book investigates the implementation of disability rights and duties in the European Union, aiming to understand its functioning and explore ways forward through a critical analysis of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) within the context of international regulation. Along the lines of the integration of fundamental rights within the common market, the EU has indeed progressively adopted meaningful regulation to advance disability rights, which are now essentially shaped by the CRPD. The research considers the interaction between law and policy at the international, EU and Member States’ level, focusing on three essential elements, including the sources of disability law, institutional mechanisms and substantive regulation. Grounded in the distinction between primary rules on law-making and secondary norms on enforcement, the analysis unfolds against the background of the ‘twin’ transitions on sustainability and digitalisation and encompasses the Council of Europe system, particularly in the light of the foreseeable accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights. Arguably, following the progressive development it has facilitated in other regulatory areas, the Court of Justice of the European Union can provide a decisive contribution to advancing inclusiveness for people with disabilities in the Union. The book is a useful resource for practitioners, policymakers, academics, students, researchers and anyone interested in EU and international disability law and politics.

This book explores the journey of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as it is interpreted and translated from International Human Rights Law into domestic law and policy in different cultural contexts. Beginning with reflections on ‘culture’, ‘disability’ and ‘human rights’ from different disciplinary perspectives, the work is then organised as ‘snapshots’ of the journey of the CRPD from the international level to the domestic; the process of ratification, the process of implementation, and then the process of monitoring the CRPD’s implementation in States Parties cultural contexts. Leading global contributors provide cutting-edge accounts of the interactions between the CRPD and diverse cultures, revealing variations in the way that the concept of ‘culture’ is defined. This collection will appeal to academics and students in Law and Socio-Legal Studies, Disability Studies, Policy Studies and Social Work, Sociology, Anthropology; and those training to be service providers with persons with disabilities.

This book provides a concise guide to international disability law. It analyses the case law of the CRPD Committee and other international human rights treaty bodies, and provides commentaries on more than 50 leading cases. The author elaborates on the obligations of States Parties under the CRPD and other international treaties, while also spelling out the rights of persons with disabilities, and the different mechanisms that exist at both domestic and international levels for ensuring that those rights are respected, protected and promoted. The author also delineates the traditional differentiation between civil and political rights on the one hand, and economic, social and cultural rights on the other. He demonstrates, through analysis of the evolving case law, how the gap between these two sets of rights is gradually closing. The result is a powerful tool for political decisionmakers, academics, legal practitioners, law students, persons with disabilities and their representative organisations, human rights activists and general readers.

This book provides an international comparative study of the implementation of disability rights law and policy focused on the emerging principles of self-determination and personalisation. It explores how these principles have been enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and how different jurisdictions have implemented them to enable meaningful engagement and participation by persons with disabilities in society. The philosophy of 'active citizenship' underpinning the Convention - that all citizens should (be able to) actively participate in the community - provides the core focal point of this book, which grounds its analysis in exploring how this goal has been imagined and implemented across a range of countries. The case studies examine how different jurisdictions have reformed disability law and policy and reconfigured how support is administered and funded to ensure maximum choice and independence is accorded to people with disabilities.

The last five years have seen a range of international developments, ranging from the growth of radicalisation and fundamentalism, to growing concerns around our energy supply, and rising aggression from Russia. The NSS must be flexible enough to support contingency planning, and in this Report the Committee recommends that the Government produce a classified NSS or annex which can be used in Government departments to influence planning assumptions for a range of scenarios. In its report the Committee said that the next NSS should look hard at the UK's place within the international order, and what strategic thinking should underpin its actions over the next five years. It also needs to influence the Comprehensive Spending Review, to ensure that the Government can make fully-informed decisions on security-related spending. The next NSS should set clear objectives for the UK's future place in the world and geopolitical priorities, and inform the Strategic Defence and Security Review's assessment of the means required to achieve them.