Art.12 CRPD Equal Recognition before the Law

Subject(s):

Disability — Jurisdiction

This chapter examines Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Article 12 of the CRPD is concerned with how legal systems enable and disable people as legal actors. In the view of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and many of those involved in negotiating Article 12, it introduces a new paradigm of ‘universal legal capacity’ that cannot be limited on grounds of disability or mental incapacity. The Committee maintains that this requires the abolition of all forms of substitute decision-making. This interpretation of Article 12 is contested in the literature, but for many involved in the disability movement, ending guardianship and other forms of substitute decision-making is central to wider advocacy goals of ending institutionalization, forced treatment, and loss of fundamental citizenship rights such as the ability to vote, marry, and own property.