VULNERABILITY AND THE (DISABILITY) LAW: STATUS, CHALLENGES AND PROMISES OF A CONTROVERSIAL CATEGORY

Abstract

Despite the increasing confidence in the transformative potential of the concept of “vulnerability”, its juridical use is still susceptible of producing some exclusionary consequences: the interchangeable use of terms “vulnerable”, “weak” and “fragile” referred to groups whose members are intended to need a special protection, is likely to have a “labelling-effect” on those who take part to some specific groups, reinforcing their distance from the paradigmatic subject of law. After addressing the current use of the category at stake, the Author will analyse the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCPRD), which constitutes a break with the liberal tradition and implements a universal (therefore, non-exclusionary) notion of vulnerability. Particular attention will be paid to the new conception of legal capacity welcomed by art. 12 UNCRPD.