The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A Hope for Progress (La Convention Des Nations Unies sur les Droits des Personnes Handicapees: Un Espoir de Progres)

Abstract

This article (in French) is a presentation of the making of the UN Convention on Persons with Disabilities. It seeks to show how, even though both law generally, human rights and international law all present themselves as an answer to the difficulties encountered by persons with disability in society, all of the latter have had a role in the social production of disability, by historically legitimizing the exclusion of the disabled from society. It is only through a redefinition of their own categories that human rights and international law can contribute to the reduction of the social and normative obstacles to the full enjoyment of human rights by persons with disabilities. The piece concludes with a few observations on what a treaty such as this one will mean for Canada.

Note: Document in French.

Keywords: disability, disability rights, human rights, international law

JEL Classification: K33, I12