approach of the Court to interpreting the Convention to extend to persons with disabilities despite their initial exclusion has been relatively ineffective. This leads to significant deference being granted to Member States, with the ECHR protection operating in a highly limited capacity. II. United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is an international human rights treaty of the United Nations which aims to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. It was the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century as well as the fastest negotiated one, from 2002 to 2006.108 It was later adopted on the 13th of December 2006 before becoming effective on the 3rd of May 2008. Jamaica was the first country to ratify the CRPD and following Ecuador’s ratification of the Convention, there was a sufficient number of parties for the Convention to enter into force. To date, it has 163 signatories, and 182 States are parties to the Convention.109 The Convention received the highest number of opening-day signatures of any document of its kind. It has been described as “the last of the great human rights Conventions”, as well as “utopian” in nature110. Following its introduction, the general response to the CRPD was largely positive. The then-Secretary-General of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, declared it “a powerful tool to eradicate the obstacles faced by persons with disabilities”.111 John Flanagan, Officerin-Charge of the UN Mine Action Service at the time of , described it as being particularly relevant for survivors of accidents with landmines and other explosives and asserted that such victims are “entitled to all the same human rights as every other member of their societies, and this new Convention will help level the playing field in terms of access to services and 108
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, ‘10th anniversary of the adoption of Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ (2016) <https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/the10th-anniversary-of-the-adoption-of-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-crpd-crpd-10.html> accessed on 13th November 2021. 109 United Nations Treaty Collection Chapter IV, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities <https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-15&chapter=4&clang=_en> accessed on 13th November 2021. 110 Jan Grue, ‘The high cost of living in a disabling world’ (2021) <https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/04/the-high-cost-of-living-in-a-disabling-world> accessed 13th November 2021. 111 UN News, ‘Landmark UN treaty on rights of persons with disabilities enters into force’ (2008) <https://news.un.org/en/story/2008/05/258222-landmark-un-treaty-rights-persons-disabilities-enters-force> accessed 13th November 2021.
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