The protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities

Abstract

Throughout history persons with disabilities have been marginalized and segregated from society. It is only in the past few decades that society began recognizing the harsh reality, persons with disabilities face. As a result this has led to the emergence of the Human Rights Approach. For the first time, society recognized that persons with disabilities are entitled to having their rights protected and promoted. Therefore the aim of this thesis is to establish whether the rights of persons with disabilities are efficiently protected and promoted in the present legal system of the United Nations, European Union, and Council of Europe, as well as in Malta. In order to satisfy the scope of the study it was necessary to undertake an in-depth analysis of the action taken by the above mentioned institutions to protect disability rights. This thesis concludes that in order for the disability rights to be properly protected, legally binding instruments which are specific to disability should be adopted. This is because the provisions of these instruments will be tailor-made to address the breaches of human rights that persons with disabilities experience. Following this line of thought, it has been concluded that the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, has been an important milestone in protecting disability rights. Nevertheless it is clear that the recognition for the need of specific legislation targeted towards the difficulties experienced by persons with disabilities is only the first step towards truly securing disability rights in full. Persons with disabilities still encounter numerous obstacles in applying their rights and states often fail to recognize the importance of proper implementation of disability law. Finally this study concludes, through the analysis of case-law, that judicial systems still find it difficult to conceptualize the unique situation of persons with disabilities in society and should strive towards interpreting legal provisions in a manner that would truly improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities in real terms.