Disability Law and Human Rights: Theory and Policy

Description

This book, exploring the theoretical and practical implications of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), brings together an international and interdisciplinary group of leading researchers in the areas of philosophy of disability, disability law, and disability policy. It addresses both the philosophical foundations of the CRPD as well as complex contemporary legal and policy debates. With a comprehensive introduction outlining key milestones in the development and implementation of the CRPD, the book addresses the most fundamental questions the CRPD raises for the way we think about human rights, law, and disability, and how we operationalize rights in the legal and policy domains. The contributors traverse themes of personhood, equality, capacity, and intersectionality, explore the dilemmas involved in translating these concepts in practice, and reflect on the promises and limitations of the human rights project. Contents Notes on Contributors 1 Introduction Introduction The Development of the CRPD The Implementation of the CRPD Structure and Content of This Book View from the Committee: In Conversation with Rosemary Kayess References 2 Toward Inclusive Equality: Ten Years of the Human Rights Model of Disability in the Work of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Introduction The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as Hallmark The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Disability and Human Rights General Comments The Disability Model of the CRPD The Human Rights Model CRPD as an Equality Treaty General Comment No. 6 on Equality and Non-Discrimination Inclusive Equality as a New Equality Concept Inclusive Equality and Models of Disability Conclusion References 3 What Does the CRPD Tell Us About Being Human? Introduction Severe Cognitive and Multiple Disabilities and the Challenge They Present for Human Rights The Charge of Speciesism and the Question of Application of Human Rights to All Human Beings “We” Capability as a Genuine Human Capability The Consequences for People with Severe Cognitive and Multiple Disabilities References 4 Rights, Justice and Flourishing: The Uses and Limitations of Human Rights Introduction The Struggle for Personhood and the Promise of Human Rights Distributive Justice: State Power and Constraints on the Realization of Rights Western Individualist Claims vs Social Autonomy and Freedom Heterogeneity and Intersectionality Reparatory Justice and Structural Transformation: Can Rights Address the Historical Continuity of Past Injustices? The Critical Limitations of Rights Frameworks Beyond Rights: Seeking a Flourishing Life Conclusion References 5 Disability and the Dilemma of Difference Introduction The Dilemmas Universal or Disability-Specific Human Rights Provisions Disability as Normalcy or Difference Sameness and Difference as Reflected in the CRPD The Substantive Equality Model of the CRPD Equality of Human Rights Conclusion and Policy Implications References 6 Forms of Equality, Faces of Discrimination: CRPD Article 5, Article 12, and the Disability’s Difference Debate Differences: Good or “Bad”? Human Rights, Civil Rights, or Welfare? Conceptualizing Article 5 and Article 12: Rights as Human or Civil? Articles 5 and 12: The Text Interpretive Materials: Article 5 Interpretive Materials: Article 12 Practical Application: Article 25, on Health, Through a Civil Rights Lens Conclusion References 7 The Right to Autonomy and the Conditions that Secure It: The Relationship Between the UNCRPD and Market-Based Policy Reform Introduction The Conception of Autonomy in Classical Philosophy and Law The Conception of Autonomy Described Within the CRPD Autonomy and Global Shifts in Disability Support Services Delivery Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme Conclusion: Enabling Autonomy References 8 At the Intersection of Childhood and Disability: Improving Human Rights Protection for Disabled Children Introduction Disabled Children Human Rights Protection The CRC and CRPD Education Conclusion References 9 The CRPD and Mental Health Law: The Conflict About Abolition, the Practical Dilemmas of Implementation and the Untapped Potential A Brief Overview of the Conflict Between Abolitionists and States Parties over the Future of Mental Health Law What Are Some of the Dilemmas Which Arise from the Call for the Abolition of Mental Health Law? Does the CRPD Require the Abolition of Mental Health Law? Is the Abolition of Mental Health Law ‘Good’ for Persons with Mental Impairment? What Is the Untapped Potential of the CRPD in the Mental Health Context? Conclusion References 10 Disability and Forced Migration: Critical Connections and the Global South Debate Introduction Why Should Disabled Refugees and Migrants Matter? The Numbers Are Far from Small Exposed: Those Left Behind in Crises Impacts on Caregivers Multiple, Complex and Connected Barriers Meet Unprepared Systems Constructions of Disability in the Forced Migration Narrative Disability Fades: The Ableist View of the Migration Narrative Vulnerability and Vanishing Agency ‘Intervening’ in Disability: The Weakness of Rights Conclusion References 11 Intersections in Human Rights and Public Policy for Indigenous People with Disability The Colonial Origins of the Social Inequality of Australia’s Indigenous People with Disability Intersectional Inequality, Discrimination and Isolation Experienced by Indigenous People with Disability The Efficacy of Indigenous and Disability Rights Frameworks in Securing the Composite Rights of Indigenous People with Disability Translation of Rights in Domestic Indigenous and Disability Policy An Indigenous Interpretation of ‘Cultural Rights’ as a Basis for Intersecting Indigenous Rights with Disability Rights References 12 Examining Australia’s Performance in Realising CRPD Obligations in Health Through the Lens of COVID-19 Introduction The Australian Disability Context Health and the CRPD How Well Has Australia Implemented the CRPD in Relation to Health? Discrimination Accessibility Children and Young People with Disability Summarising Key Lessons COVID-19 and the Australian Experience Challenges for People with Disability Positives to Emerge Out of the Pandemic Conclusion References Index