Inter-regional Expert Meeting on International Norms and Standards Relating to Disabilities: Issues relating to a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
 Mexico City,11-14 June 2002

A briefing on preparations for the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee established under General Assembly resolution 56/168

The process of developing a convention on the rights of persons with disabilities will begin in earnest on Monday, July 29, 2002 when the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee established under General Assembly resolution 56/168 begins. The Committee will meet for two weeks, ending on August 9, 2002.

United Nations human rights conventions always take some time to be negotiated. How long this one may take cannot be assessed until after the first meeting. The first meeting has a fairly simple agenda:

Its first task will be to elect its Bureau (the chairperson, vice-chairpersons and a rapporteur) that will serve as a committee to regulate work. As of today, who will be the chair is not known. This is a matter for discussion by regional groups.

Two issues are likely to be a focus of discussion at the meeting. The first is procedural, but significant: how to involve non-governmental organizations in the work of the Committee. Resolution 56/168 invites "...non-governmental organizations with an interest in the matter to make contributions to the work entrusted to the Ad Hoc Committee, based on the practice of the United Nations." The problem here is that the practice of the United Nations, for bodies convened under the General Assembly, is not to allow direct participation of NGOs (e.g. speaking to the meeting). This is in contrast to the practice of the Economic and Social Council. Either this has to be solved by the General Assembly before the Committee meets or the Committee itself will have to decide whether to recommend that the General Assembly permit NGOs to speak and under what conditions. (This is what has to be done for all world conferences organized by the General Assembly). The issue of NGO participation in the United Nations has always been a delicate one and it is too early to tell whether it will be resolved quickly for this committee. The European Union and Mexico are currently organizing consultations on a draft resolution for the General Assembly and, depending on how these go, the matter may be resolved.

The second issue is one of substance, and is covered under agenda item 4. In the United Nations, debates proceed more quickly when there is a specific document around which to discuss. For the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee, there is no such document. The resolution requested the Secretary-General to prepare "a compilation of existing international legal instruments, documents and programmes which directly or indirectly address the situation of persons with disabilities, including, inter alia, those of conferences, summits, meetings or international or regional seminars convened by the United Nations and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations." This document, which will be very large, has not yet been issued. The resolution also "requests the Secretary-General to provide the Ad Hoc Committee with the outcome of the study undertaken pursuant to Commission on Human Rights resolution 2000/51 and the final reports that will be presented by the Special Rapporteur on disability of the Commission for Social Development to that Commission." The study is a very long one entitled "A Survey of International, Comparative and Regional Disability Law Reform" prepared by Theresia Degener and Gerard Quinn for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In addition, the Government of Mexico has indicated its intention to submit a revised version of its paper on "Elements for a United Nations Comprehensive and Integral International Convention".

With the exception of an executive summary of the Degener and Quinn paper, none of the documents has been issued officially (that means in all of the official languages of the United Nations) and, absent a text, the discussion is likely to be general.

A likely outcome of the meeting will be a request to the Secretary-General to prepare a draft text taking into account the discussions as well as other material that may be submitted by Governments. This is the usual way for a negotiating text to be assembled.

The next step would be for the General Assembly at its 57th Session, on the basis of the Committee's report, to authorize a second meeting in 2003. The meeting could not be earlier since it is highly unusual to have a meeting like that while the Assembly is in session from September through December. When the meeting would occur depends on the schedule of meetings for the year which, after February, is very congested.

The importance of the Committee's first session is that it will determine, through its discussions and any text it adopts, the parameters within which the Convention will be developed. This means such things as the Convention's structure, who will be covered by it and the general approach it will take to defining State obligations. The NGO input into this process will be critical.

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