Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities (2018) Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities to equal recognition before the law

This report establishes a path towards universal legal capacity on the basis of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)  and other international human rights treaties, illustrated by experiences from a growing number of countries, including Costa Rica, Ireland, Kenya and Sweden. It reminds States of their obligations as signatories of the CRPD, and provides recommendations to ensure the equal recognition of people with disabilities before the law, such as:

• Recognising the right to legal capacity of people with disabilities in domestic legislation, and abolishing all laws and regulations that restrict this fundamental right.
• Suspending all new applications of substitute decision making which undermine the legal capacity of people with disabilities.
• Promoting and guaranteeing the access of people with disabilities to mechanisms of supported decision making.