Art.5 Equality and Non-Discrimination

Subject(s):

Equality before the law — Disability — Jurisdiction

This chapter examines Article 5 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which sets out the concepts of equality and non-discrimination. It explores the myriad advances embodied in Article 5 and analyses the legal import of each paragraph. It also considers the potential challenges to implementing Article 5, including clashes between the CRPD Committee’s interpretation and that of states parties, and conflicts between equality rights, such as the right to abortion and arguments that non-discrimination under the CRPD requires bans on aborting disabled foetuses. What emerges is a picture of equality and non-discrimination born of ‘a three-dimensional view of the reality of life as a person with a disability’.