report initially within two years of ratifying the Convention and, following on from that, every four years. One of the Committee’s most noteworthy reviews in recent years was in 2017, where the UK’s submission resulted in criticism from the Committee due to the UK government’s cuts to social security and other support for persons with disabilities.120 The Committee informed them to make more than 80 improvements to the ways its laws and policies affect the rights of persons with disabilities, in light of a number of the CRPD’s Articles. 121. Furthermore, there is a sideagreement to the Convention called the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which grants signatory States the powers to recognise the competence of the Committee to consider complaints.122 It entered into force with the Convention and has 94 signatories. The acceptance and fulfilment of Convention obligations has varied worldwide with, for example, El Salvador accepting the Convention to the extent that it is compatible with its Constitution and France considering the Convention not to be legally binding at all123. State parties to the CRPD have pursued different legal and policy reactions thereto, and the development of Ireland’s legal and policy framework in response to the CRPD will be examined in Part III.
III. A Critical Commentary on the Evolution of Ireland’s Legal and Policy Framework in Response to the UNCRPD Ireland’s legal and policy framework has significantly evolved in response to the CRPD, which was ratified by the State in March 2018.124 This evolution has resulted in both legislative implementations, including the Assisted Decision Making Act, 2015 and the Irish Sign 120
John Pring, ‘Disabled people urged to provide evidence for UN on government’s record on rights’ (2021) <https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/disabled-people-urged-to-provide-evidence-for-un-on-governmentsrecord-on-rights/> accessed on 13th November 2021. 121 Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Concluding observations on the initial report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2017). 122 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Article 1. 123 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. 124 The Union of Students in Ireland, Written Submission on Public Consultation on the Draft Initial State Report under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2021) <https://usi.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/USI-SUBM-Draft-Initial-State-Report-under-the-UNCRPD.docx> accessed 6 November 2021.
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