New guidelines aim to dismantle barriers blocking people with disabilities from access to justice

The first-ever international principles and guidelines on access to justice for people with disabilities was issued by the UN in August 2020. The guidelines include a list of principles, as well as guidelines on how to be implemented that forms „ a practical handbook [for countries] on how to design and implement justice systems that provide equal access to justice for people with disabilities, regardless of their role in the process, to bring them into line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other international standards.” One of the guidelines for implementation provides that governments should “ensure that constructs such as “cognitive incapacity” and “mental incapacity”, as determined, for instance, by functional or mental status assessments, are not used to restrict a person’s right to legal capacity”.

Read the full text here.