| Programme : Presentation on Day
1 Text version of a PowerPoint Presentation:
Status of the
Convention negotiations – how far to go?
Presented by: Andrew Byrnes
Faculty of Law, UNSW, Australia
Slide 1
UN ESCAP Workshop on Regional Follow-up to the Seventh
Session and Preparation for the Eighth Session of the Ad Hoc Committee of
the General Assembly on the Elaboration of a Convention on the Rights and
Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
Bangkok, Thailand, 20-21 July 2006
Status of the Convention negotiations – how far to go?
Andrew Byrnes
Faculty of Law, UNSW, Australia
2
The end is near . . .
- The Chair of the AHC considers that the substantive negotiations on
the Convention can be concluded at the 8th session (14-25 August 2006)
- Still a number of contentious or difficult issues to be resolved, but
Chair wishes to focus on resolving questions of substance, not linguistic
improvements
- Convention will then undergo a technical review by drafting committee
before final adoption by the General Assembly at its 61st session
3
Important documents
- Current draft text which has been largely agreed – Annex II to Report
of the Committee on its 7th session, UN Doc A/AC.265/2006/2
- Chair’s Closing Comments at the end of the 7th session (February 2006)
- Chair’s Cover Letter and Proposed Programme of Work for the 8th
session (10 July 2006)
4
Some significant innovations
- Right of accessibility (article 9)
- Article on personal mobility (article 20)
- Right to living independently and being included in the community
(article 19)
- Right to habilitation and rehabilitation (article 26)
- Article on awareness-raising (article 8)
. . . and many other provisions
5
Some of the major issues yet to be finally resolved
- Definition of "disability"/"persons with disability"
- Definition of "discrimination"
- Issue of "national laws of general application"
- Question of equal recognition as a person before the law and legal
capacity (article 12)
- Integrity of the person and the issue of involuntary treatment
(article 17)
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Some of the major issues yet to be finally resolved (2)
- PWD in situations of risk (article 11)
- Placement of provisions related to women with disabilities and
children with disabilities
- International cooperation
- International monitoring mechanism
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Some of the major issues yet to be finally resolved (3)
Definition of "disability" or "person with disability"
- Acceptance that social model of disability should underpin the
Convention
- But is a definition of "disability" desirable or not?
- If so, what should it be?
- If "disability" is the result of a dynamic interaction between person
and environment, should the Convention be talking of "persons with
disabilities" being denied rights when it is the very denial that may
construct the disability?
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Some of the major issues yet to be finally resolved (4)
Possible Definition of "Disability": Discussion Text Suggested by the
Chair
"Disability" results from the interaction between persons with
impairments, conditions or illnesses and the environmental and attitudinal
barriers they face. Such impairments, conditions or illnesses may be
permanent, temporary, intermittent or imputed, and include those that are
physical, sensory, psychosocial, neurological, medical or intellectual.
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Some other outstanding issues
- "Progressive realisation" or "immediate effect" – need to avoid the
notion that economic, social and cultural rights are capable only of
progressive implementation
- Current text (art 4(2)) attempts to address this, but not completely
satisfactorily
- No specific provision on remedies for violations of rights
OTHER ISSUES?
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