Putting the UN Disability Convention into practice

1. Putting the UN Disability Convention into practice Sara Brunet, Senior Lawyer and UNCRPD lead officer, EHRC

2. The UN Disability Convention • International human rights agreement signed by the UK Government • Recognising disabled people continue to face barriers to equal participation and violations of their human rights • Commitment to ensure disabled people enjoy the same human rights as everyone else without discrimination

3. Human rights framework • Human rights are basic rights and freedoms that everyone is entitled to • They are about how the state treats you • Universal Declaration of Human Rights – no new rights • Specific Convention to ensure disabled people’s rights become everyday reality • Convention is based on the social model of disability

4. Whose job is it to implement the Convention? • UK Government in partnership with the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland • Office for Disability Issues is ‘focal point and co-ordinating mechanism’ within UK • Co-ordinates action to implement the Convention across government departments and devolved administrations • UK Gov submitted first state report to the UN Disability Committee in November 2011

5. What obligations does the Convention place on Government? • Ensure disabled people have protection from all forms of discrimination including failure to make reasonable adjustments • Pass new laws and make new policies where appropriate • Abolish or change laws and practices that discriminate against disabled people

6. What obligations does the Convention place on Government? • Take account of disabled people’s human rights in its policies and programmes • ‘mainstreaming’ • Collect and disseminate data and statistics • Measuring progress, developing better policies • Ensure public authorities comply with the Convention • For example, local councils, health boards, police, regulators such Care Quality Commission

7. Role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission • EHRC is an ‘independent mechanism to ‘promote, protect and monitor’ the implementation of the Convention • Monitors progress by the governments of Britain in implementing the Convention • Report on that progress to the UN Disability Committee in a ‘shadow report’ • The Commission will involve disabled people when developing and writing its report

8. The Commission’s work on the Convention • Raising awareness and encourage participation • Providing advice and information to disabled people and public authorities • E-updates; UNCRPD Guide • Mainstreaming the Convention across our work • Disability Harassment Inquiry • Intervention in Burnip(legal case)

9. Know the Convention: your rights • Specific rights called ‘articles’ • Key principles (articles 1 –5) • apply across all the rights • Articles across all aspects of life e.g. • Making your own decisions / right to legal capacity (article 12) • Independent living and being included in the community (article 19) • Education (article 24)

10. Know the Convention: your rights • Protection for specific groups • Disabled women (article 6) • Disabled children (article 7) • Reservations and interpretive declarations • Immediate obligations and ‘progressive realisation’

11. Know the Convention: Optional Protocol • Communications procedure • Individual complaints • Inquiry procedure • Investigation into severe or widespread violations of the Convention

12. How the Convention relates to our domestic laws • Domestic laws must meet Convention’s requirements • Not directly part of domestic law • BUT courts should use it to interpret Human Rights Act and disability discrimination law especially Public Sector Equality Duty • Government and public authorities • Must take account of and act in accordance with the Convention in their work

13. Monitoring and involvement: role of disabled people and their organisations • “Nothing about us, without us” – disabled people are central to implementation of the Convention • Your right to be involved (article 33) • Government must involve disabled people when they are monitoring progress • Fulfilling Potential Office for Disability Issues • Shadow reporting • UK examination expected in late 2014 or 2015

14. Role of the United Nations (UN) • The UN Disability Committee • Monitors what each country that has ratified the Convention is doing to put it into practice • Two then four yearly report and examination process • Concluding observations: Recommendations about what the government can do to deliver disabled people’s human rights • Optional Protocol

15. How to use the Convention • Raise awareness among disabled people • Write and submit a shadow report • Get involved with other UN monitoring • Conventions on rights of women and children • Raise awareness with researchers and survey designers • Use for advocacy and influencing national and local services

16. How to use the Convention • Ask public authorities what they are doing to comply with the Convention • To support human rights arguments in legal cases • Parliamentary questions • JCHR inquiry on independent living • Tool for human rights impact assessment

17. Getting involved • Contact your local or national disability organisation, for example: • Disability Rights Watch UK www.disabilityrightswatchuk.org • Deaf and Disabled People’s Legal Network

18. Getting involved • Working with the EHRC • Sign up for e-bulletin • Use our UNCRPD Guide and web pages : • www.equalityhumanrights.com/human-rights/human-rights-practical-guidance/guidance-from-the-commission/a-guide-to-the-un-disability-convention

19. Getting involved • Take part in the Government’s work developing ‘new cross-government disability strategy’ - Fulfilling Potential • http://odi.dwp.gov.uk/fulfilling-potential/index.php