Art.13 Access to Justice

Abstract

This chapter examines Article 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which represents the first expression of a stand-alone right to access justice in international human rights law. It explores how the drafters drew on concepts like the right to an effective remedy and the right to a fair hearing in other UN human rights treaties, to develop a unique treaty provision on access to justice for persons with disabilities in the CRPD. It further considers how this right has been interpreted by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in its Concluding Observations to date. Further, the chapter explores the extent to which the article has been interpreted and applied in domestic and regional courts. Finally, it highlights individual complaints made under the Optional Protocol concerning the interpretation of Article 13 and any references to this provision by other treaty bodies and independent mechanisms within the UN system.