Rights of the disabled persons in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: parallel paths or contact points?

The present paper analyses the practice of the disability rights advocacy in the framework of the two different systems of international human rights protection: in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights and in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities. The article examines the advantages and disadvantages of these two international systems in the light of effectiveness of disability rights protection and the implementation of international obligations of the member states. European Convention on Human Rights doesn’t contain any provisions for the special needs of disabled people or state obligations to secure disability rights, but instead the European Court’s judgments are legally binding for the member states. United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides for obligations of member states on securing rights of the most vulnerable persons with disabilities, but the concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are just advisory which reduces their impact on the situation of disabled people rights within national legal systems. One of the tendencies in interaction of these regional and universal systems in the sphere of rights of the disabled can be mentioned: the European Court of Human Rights actively addresses the UN human rights treaties and the UN bodies’ practice to define the general principles of the disability rights protection. The results of functioning of these two mechanisms are interpretation and clarification of the member states’ legal obligation in unobstructed realization of rights of the disabled. This, in turn, is designed to assist member states in identifying and implementing their action plans at the national level.

About the author: Anna Demeneva – Candidate of Sciences (Ph.D.) in Law, Associate Professor, Ural Federal University, Consultant for Ombudsman of Sverdlovsk Region.

Citation: Demeneva A. (2016) Zashchita prav invalidov v praktike Evropeyskogo Suda po pravam cheloveka i Komiteta OON po pravam invalidov: parallel'nye puti ili tochki soprikosnoveniya? [Rights of the disabled persons in the practice of the European Court of Human Rights and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: parallel paths or contact points?]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, no. 4, pp. 84–98. (In Russian).

References

Bartenev D. (2009) Realizatsiya mezhdunarodnykh standartov v sfere nedeesposobnosti i opeki v stranakh Vostochnoy Evropy [Implementation of the international standards in the sphere of incapacity and guardianship in Eastern Europe]. Nezavisimyy psikhiatricheskiy zhurnal, no. 4, pp. 61–64. (In Russian).

Demeneva A. (2014) Pravovye posledstviya postanovleniy Evropeyskogo Suda po pravam cheloveka po delam ob okazanii psikhiatricheskoy pomoshchi v Rossii [The legal consequences of the ECtHR judgments on psychiatric aid in Russia]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, no. 2, pp. 21–43. (In Russian).

Dolzhikov A. (2013) «Gordost' i predubezhdenie»: sorazmernost' polnogo konstitutsionnogo zapreta zaklyuchyonnym golosovat' v Rossii: Postanovlenie Evropeyskogo Suda po pravam cheloveka ot 4 iyulya 2013 [«Pride and Prejudice»: the proportionality of the total prohibition for prisoners in Russia to vote Judgment of the ECtHR of 4 July 2013]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, no. 4, pp. 11–31. (In Russian).

Effective Use of International Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms to Protect the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Guidance document. International Disability Alliance. 2010. Available at: http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/sites/default/files/documents/crpd-reportingguidance-document-english-final-print1.pdf (accessed 21.06.2016).

Izhikov М. (2012) Konventsionnye organy v sisteme zaschity prav cheloveka: nekotorye problemy i puti ikh resheniya [Conventional bodies in the system of human rights protection: some problems and their solutions]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravo i mezhdunarodnye organizatsii, no. 2, pp. 6–15. (In Russian).

Ovsyuk А. (2007) Konventsia OON o pravakh invalidov – vazhnyi dogovor dlya zaschity uyazvimykh grupp naseleniya [UN Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities is the important treaty for protection of vulnerable groups of people]. Yurist-mezhdunarodnik, no. 3, pp. 19–27. (In Russian).

Shepeleva О. (2012) Kiyutin protiv Rossii: Postanovlenie Evropeyskogo Suda po pravam cheloveka ot 10 marta 2011 [Kiyutin v. Russia: Judgement of the Euroren Court on Human Rights of March 10, 2011]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, no. 1, pp. 29-33. (In Russian).

Valeev R. (ed.) (2011) Mezhdunarodnaya i vnutrigosudarstvennaya zashchita prav cheloveka [International and national human rights protection], Moscow: Statut. (In Russian).

Yakovleva Е. (2015) Pooshchrenie i zashchita prav invalidov v mezhdunarodnom prave: Dis. … kand. yurid. nauk [Promotion and protection of persons with disabilities in international law: Cand. legal sci. diss.], Moscow. (In Russian).