The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities

What does it mean for you?

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Contents

Foreword

What this guide covers

Part 1 Introducing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities

Part 2 Know your rights

Part 3 Making rights a reality

Part 4 Further information and resources

Notes

Contacts

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Foreword

If you are a disabled person the United NationsConvention on the rights of People with Disabilities(the Convention) is for you.

The Convention is a new internationalhuman rights agreement that:

• Recognises that we are all equal.Disabled people have the samerights as everyone else to freedom,respect, equality and dignity.
• Brings together all our basic humanrights in one place.
• Describes what government hasagreed to do to make these rightsreal.

The Convention was created becauseoften our human rights are not respectedand we face many barriers to inclusionin society.

The Convention is not just a paper‘declaration’ without any teeth. It requiresgovernment to take action to removebarriers and give disabled people realfreedom, dignity and equality. We can useit in lots of different ways to make sure ourrights are respected and to get a better deal.

The Equality and Human RightsCommission is working hard to raiseawareness of the Convention amongdisabled people, legal advisers andpublic bodies.

The Commission’s role is to ensure Britainmakes rapid progress towards makingthe Convention rights a reality fordisabled people.

We have produced this guide so thatyou can find out:

• What your human rights are andhow they are protected.
• What difference the Conventioncould make to your life.
• How you can be involved in puttingthe Convention into practice.
• How you can use the Convention tochallenge injustice and improveservices.

This guide is for people living in England,Wales and Scotland. We hope you find ituseful. The Equality Commission forNorthern Ireland and the NorthernIreland Human Rights Commissionhave produced a separate guide whichexplains how the Convention will workin Northern Ireland.

Mike Smith

Commissioner and Chair of theDisability Committee, Equality andHuman Rights Commission.

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What this guide covers

Part 1: Introducing the United Nations Conventionon the Rights of People with Disabilities

This Part explains what the Convention is, and what it means for you. It describesthe obligations of the government, and the role of the Equality and Human RightsCommission and the Scottish Human Rights Commission in the implementationof the Convention. It also explains how the Convention works in relation to theHuman Rights Act and disability discrimination legislation including theEquality Duty.

Part 2: Know your rights

This Part sets out the key principles of the Convention, what each right says and whatit means, with examples.

Part 3: Making rights a reality

This Part shows you how to make the Convention work for you. It explains howdisabled people and disabled people’s organisations can get involved in the monitoringand implementation of the Convention, and how you can use it to bring about changeat local and national level. It also sets out how you can use the Convention to makea complaint.

Part 4: Further information and resources

There are many places where you can get help or find more information and as theConvention becomes more a part of everyday life all over the world more resources willbecome available. This Part lists some of the key resources where you can find help.

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Part 1Introducing the UnitedNations Convention onthe Rights of Peoplewith Disabilities

This Part gives you an introduction to theConvention. It covers:

• What is the United Nations Conventionon the Rights of People withDisabilities?
• Why did this Convention come about?
• Why is the Convention important fordisabled people in Britain?
• Who has rights under the Convention?
• What obligations does the Conventionput on the government?
• Reservations.
• How does the Convention relate todomestic legislation, in particularthe Human Rights Act and theEquality Duty?
• Whose job is it to implement theConvention?
• What role do the Equality and HumanRights Commission and the ScottishHuman Rights Commission have?
• What role do disabled people andtheir organisations have?
• The role of the United Nations.

What is the United NationsConvention on the Rights ofPeople with Disabilities?

The United Nations Convention on theRights of People with Disabilities is a newinternational agreement about protectingand promoting the human rights ofdisabled people throughout the world.

In this guide we use the term ‘Convention’for short. There are other Conventions,for example the European Convention onHuman Rights and the United NationsConvention on the Rights of the Child. Ifwe talk about a Convention other than theUnited Nations Convention on the Rightsof People with Disabilities, we will use itsfull name.

Human rights are a set of basicrights and freedoms that everyoneis entitled to, regardless of who theyare. They are about how the Statemust treat you. They recognise thateveryone is of equal value, has theright to make their own decisionsand should be treated with fairness,dignity and respect. Human rightshave been written down ininternational agreements suchas the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights (1948) and theEuropean Convention on HumanRights (1950).

The Convention describes the steps whichgovernments must take to take suredisabled people enjoy their human rights to:

• equality before the law withoutdiscrimination
• make their own decisions
• have their family life respected
• freedom from exploitation, violenceand abuse
• an inclusive education
• a decent standard of living
• support to participate in society and livein the community
• accessible physical environments andinformation

These rights and others not listed here arecontained in ‘Articles’. We explain whatthe rights mean in Part 2.

Why did this Conventioncome about?

Disabled people campaigned for over20 years to get their own human rightsconvention. Many disabled people andtheir organisations across the world wereinvolved in agreeing its contents.

Like everyone else in the world, disabledpeople’s human rights have beenenshrined in the Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights since 1948. To that end theConvention does not give disabled people‘new’ human rights. However, it wasrecognised that action needed to be takento ensure rights on paper become rights ineveryday reality. Too many obstacles stilllead to disabled people’s human rightsbeing abused or neglected.

The aim of a disability convention was toset out the steps which every country inthe world should take to remove theseobstacles. Many countries – includingthe UK – agreed that there should be aspecific Convention to drive forward realdignity, equality and inclusion fordisabled people.

The text of the Convention was agreedat the United Nations (UN) in December2006. The UK signed the Conventionon 30 March 2007 and ratified it on8 June 2009.

When a country ‘signs’ theConvention it means it agrees withwhat the Convention says abouthuman rights for disabled people.

When a country ‘ratifies’ theConvention it agrees to do whatthe Convention says and makechanges to ensure that the rightsin the Convention are respectedin practice.

Why is the Conventionimportant for disabled peoplein Britain?

1. The government will be held toaccount by means of reports on itsperformance in promoting disabledpeople’s rights by the UN DisabilityCommittee.

2. It should give disabled people astronger say in the policies thataffect their lives. Government isexpected to involve disabled people inthe plans to implement the Conventionwhen it is making new laws and policieswhich affect disabled people, and whenit is writing reports for the UN on howthe UK is meeting its obligations underthe Convention.

3. It sets new standards on howgovernment and public bodiesshould ensure that disabledpeople’s human rights should beprotected and promoted. This is thefirst human rights agreement that talksin detail about things like an inclusiveeducation or the right to live where youwant to.

4. It puts wide-rangingresponsibilities on governmentto take practical action tostrengthen disabled people’scontrol over their own lives andfull participation in society.

5. It could lead to stronger and fullerprotection against disabilitydiscrimination. Government mayneed to take action to close gaps inUK law on disability discrimination.

6. It can be used to interpret theHuman Rights Act and, alongsidethe Equality Duty, to challengefailure to respect human rightsand to work towards disabilityequality.

7. It can be used by disabled peopleand their organisations as aframework to negotiate andinfluence national and localmatters – for example when a localauthority is proposing to withdrawessential social support services whichwill affect disabled people’s rights tolive independently.

8. It should help promote positiveattitudes towards disabled peopleas the government has an obligationto raise awareness and foster respectfor the rights and dignity of disabledpersons, to tackle prejudice and abuseagainst disabled people, and to promoteawareness of what disabled people cancontribute to society.

Case Study: The difference a Convention makes

The Children’s Rights Convention in Wales

In 2004, the Welsh AssemblyGovernment adopted the United NationsConvention on the Rights of the Childas the basis for all their policies andprogrammes for children in Wales.The seven core aims the Welsh assemblyGovernment has set for children all stemfrom the UN convention on the Rightsof the Child. They cover issues like thebest education and training possible,good physical and mental health andthe right for children to have their viewslistened to.

The Welsh Minister for Children chairsa Cabinet sub-committee whose job isto ensure the Convention is put intopractice.

The Welsh Assembly Government’scommitment to the Children’s RightsConvention is delivering real benefits forchildren and young people.

For example, the Welsh AssemblyGovernment:

• was the first government in the UKto appoint a Children’s RightsCommissioner to act as a championfor children’s rights
• set up Funky Dragon – the childrenand young people’s Assembly passeda law requiring every school to have aschool council so that pupils can havea real say in their education and howtheir school is run
• publishes a Children and YoungPeople’s Wellbeing Monitor whichmeasures progress on tackling childpoverty and children’s enjoymentof their Convention rights, and
• works hard to get the message acrossto parents and carers that hittingchildren is wrong and infringestheir human rights.

Who’s rights are recognised bythe Convention?

The Convention is about the human rights ofdisabled people. That can be a person whohas an impairment, illness, injury or healthcondition and who may face barriers to beingincluded in society. It includes Deaf people,people with learning disabilities, people withsensory impairments, people with physicalimpairments, people with mental healthconditions, people with autism, people withepilepsy and people who are HIV positive.The Convention says that ‘a person with adisability’ includes people with long-termimpairments. However, it could also coverpeople with short-term disabilities. There arearound 11million disabled people in Britainwho have rights under the Convention.

The Convention is based on the ‘socialmodel’ of disability. It recognises thatpeople with impairments are excluded bybarriers created by society, and so aredisabled by inaccessible services, barriersin the built environment or prejudice andstigma. It also recognises that these barrierschange over time for the individual.

What obligations does theConvention place on thegovernment?

When a government has ratified theConvention it commits to taking practicalaction to make rights real. It should:

• take steps so that disabled people canenjoy all their rights – for examplemaking sure that disabled people havefull protection against all forms ofdiscrimination – including takingaction against failure to makereasonable adjustments
• look at existing laws and say whatchanges need to be made
• abolish laws and practices thatdiscriminate against disabled people
• pass new laws and make new policieswhere necessary
• take account of disabled people’shuman rights in everything it does(people often call this ‘mainstreaming’– thinking at the beginning of a processabout making sure that disabled peopleare not excluded)
• avoid doing anything that infringesdisabled people’s Convention rights
• ensure that professionals who workwith disabled people have training tounderstand how to respect their rights
• ensure that the private sector andindividuals respect the rights ofdisabled people
• promote accessibility including thedevelopment of standards
• ensure international developmentprogrammes address disability issuesand include disabled people, as well asworking with other international bodies
• gather information and statistics aboutthe position of disabled people insociety so it can track progress anddevelop better policies.

The Convention places obligations onthe ‘State Party’: for Britain this is the UKGovernment. However, protecting andpromoting many of the rights under theConvention depends on action by regionaland local authorities and other nationalbodies. Therefore, the UK Governmentshould take steps to ensure theseauthorities (for example local healthboards, local councils, inspectorates,police) are doing what is necessary toimplement the Convention. The ScottishGovernment and the Welsh AssemblyGovernment will need to ensure suchactions are taken in Scotland and Walesin areas where responsibility for deliveringlegislation, services or participationhas been devolved.

If the government fails to take thesesteps, then it may be in breach of theConvention. In Part 3 we explain howyou can deal with this, and also howyou can use the Convention in relation toother public bodies and anyone deliveringpublic services on their behalf.

It is worth noting that the Convention hasdifferent types of rights. Some rights givethe government flexibility, others do not.For example, taking somebody’s life ortorturing a person is never allowed.Other rights can be restricted in somesituations which must be set out in law,forexample people have the right toliberty, but they can be sent to prisonbecause of an offence written in the law.

Many of the rights in the Conventionrequire the government to take proactivesteps. However, the Convention recognisesthat many countries may not be able totake steps to make some of the rightsreal for all disabled people immediately.The government should still try to doeverything in its power and use allavailable resources to make sure disabledpeople enjoy their human rights asquickly as possible. This is often called‘progressive realisation’. The UN is likelyto expect a relatively wealthy country likeBritain, which has already got many of thebasics in place, to be doing better than adeveloping country.

While governments are working onimprovements to rights they should still:

• avoid taking steps which deny disabledpeople their enjoyment of humanrights, and
• ensure everyone has the minimumessential level of support they need interms of food and shelter, and basiclevels of health care and education.

Part 3 explains how you can use theConvention.

Reservations

When the UK Government ratified theConvention, it made reservations against anumber of Articles and one interpretativedeclaration. A reservation is a statementthat says that the government will not(yet) take steps on a certain issue. Aninterpretative declaration sets out thegovernment’s understanding of what aparticular Article means and agrees toratify it on condition that it is interpretedin this way.

The reservations and the interpretativedeclaration are discussed in Part 2, underthe right to make your own decisions(Article 12), liberty of movement andnationality (Article 18), right to education(Article 24), and right to work (Article 27).

The Equality and Human RightsCommission, the Scottish HumanRightsCommission, the Equality Commission forNorthern Ireland and the Northern IrelandHuman Rights Commission believe thereservations and declaration made by theUK Government are either unnecessaryor invalid and should be withdrawn.

How does the Conventionrelate to our domestic laws, inparticular the Human RightsAct and the Equality Duty?

The UK Government needs to make surethat the laws we have at home meet theConvention’s requirements. If not, thenit should change the laws. There are anumber of ways that you can hold thegovernment to account if our lawsor their implementation don’t meet therequirements of the Convention. Youcan find out more about this in Part 3.

If a disabled person believes that theirrights under the Convention have beenbreached, then they cannot take thegovernment or any other public body toa court, as the Convention is not directlypart of our domestic law. However, theConvention can play an importantsupporting role when cases are takento court about the Human Rights Act,disability discrimination legislation and,in particular, the Equality Duty.

The Human Rights Act is a law passedin the UK in 1998 that says publicauthorities must respect the human rightsof everyone in Britain and NorthernIreland. The rights it protects are basedon an agreement called the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights. That agreement includes some of the samerights as the disability Convention, forexample the right to life and the rightto a fair trial. However, the disabilityConvention also includes a broader rangeof rights, in particular rights that coversocial, cultural and economic issues such asthe right to housing and the right to work.

The disability Convention sets out in moredetail the steps that the government mustput in place to ensure disabled people’shuman rights are protected and promoted.For example, Article 8 of the HumanRights Act protects people’s right toprivate and family life, including the rightto take decisions about their own lives andto participate in the community. Article 19of the disability Convention sets out someof the steps which government must taketo ensure that disabled people enjoy thisright, for example by ensuring disabledpeople have an equal choice to decidewhere and with whom they live and thatthey have the support needed to liveindependently in the community.

Now, when public authorities are thinkingabout how they support human rightsthey should also look at the Convention.While you can’t bring a case directly inthe UK courts under the Convention,the disability Convention can be used asan interpretative tool in relation to theHuman Rights Act. When interpretingthe Human Rights Act, courts should takeaccount of international law as well asdecisions of the European Court of HumanRights. In 2009, the European Court ofHuman Rights referred to the Conventionin a decision about whether disabledpeople were treated unfairly. The fullname of this case is Glor v Switzerland(Application no. 13444/04, judgment on30 April 2009).(1)