Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: an introduction

  • Article
  • Published:
ERA Forum Aims and scope

Abstract

The European Union for the first time ratified an international human rights treaty: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Such ratification will undoubtedly impact on EU law, and importantly on the position of people with disabilities in Europe and further afield. The Convention has been described as embodying the ‘paradigm shift’, being revolutionary and ground breaking. This paper will assess the content of the Convention, addressing the innovative general principles, the means of implementation as well the substantive rights contained in the Convention.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Barnes, C.: Theories of disability and the origins of the oppression of disabled people in western society. In: Barton, L. (ed.) Disability and Society: Emerging Issues and Insights. Longman, London (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Clifford, J.: The UN Disability Convention and its impact on European Equality Law. Equal Rights Trust 6, 11–25 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Degener, T., Quinn, G. (eds.): Human Rights and Disability—the current and future use of United National Human Rights instruments in the context of Disability. Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights (2002). http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/HRDisabilityen.pdf

  4. European Foundation Centre: Study on challenges and good practices in the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities VC/20081214, Final Report, Brussels, October (2010). http://study.efc.be/files/repository/20110201165756_VC20081214_FINAL_REPORT_web_010211.pdf

  5. Hendriks, A.: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Eur. J. Health Law 14, 273–298 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Hendriks, A.: Selected legislation and jurisprudence: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Eur. J. Health Law 14, 273–298 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kayess, R., French, P.: Out of the darkness into light? Introducing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Hum. Rights Law Rev. 8(1), 1–34 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Keys, M.: Legal capacity law reform in Europe: an urgent challenge. Eur. Yearbook Disabil. Law 1, 59–87 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Oliver, M.: A sociology of disability or a disablist sociology? In: Barton, L. (ed.) Disability and Society: Emerging Issues and Insights. Longman, London (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Quinn, G.: A short guide to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Eur. Yearbook Disabil. Law 1, 89–114 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Shakespeare, T., Watson, J.: The social model of disability: an outdated ideology? Res. Soc. Sci. Disabil. 2, 9–28 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Trömel, S.: A personal perspective on the drafting history of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Eur. Yearbook Disabil. Law 1, 115–137 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Waddington, L.: Breaking new ground: the implications of ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for the European Community. In: Arnadóttir, O.M., Quinn, G. (eds.) The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: European and Scandinavian Perspectives. Martinus Nijhoff, Leiden (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Waddington, L.: A new era in human rights protection in the European Community: the implications of the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities for the European Community. Maastricht Faculty of Law, Working Paper No. 2007-4, 1–22

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shivaun Quinlivan.

Additional information

The author was speaker at the seminar EU Disability Law and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, organised by ERA on 24–25 October 2011 in Trier. She would like to thank Dr. Laurent Pech, Dr. Mary Keys and Ursula Connolly for commenting on earlier versions of this paper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Quinlivan, S. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: an introduction. ERA Forum 13, 71–85 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-012-0252-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-012-0252-1

Keywords

Navigation