UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - main provisions related to ensuring accessibility of social infrastructure and services for people with disabilities. Conventions and agreements International legislation on the rights of persons with disabilities

The main international document establishing the rights of persons with disabilities around the world is the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 13, 2006.

This Convention, after its ratification by the Russian Federation on September 25, 2012, in accordance with Article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, became part of Russian legislation. Its application on the territory of our country is carried out through the adoption by government bodies of regulations that specify the methods for implementing specific provisions of the Convention.

Article 1 of the Convention states that its purpose is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment by all persons with disabilities of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.

To achieve this goal, Article 3 of the Convention sets out a number of principles on which all its other provisions are based. These principles include, in particular:

Full and effective involvement and inclusion in society;

Equality of opportunity;

Non-discrimination;

Availability.

These principles logically follow from one another. In order to ensure the full inclusion and inclusion of a disabled person in society, it is necessary to provide him with equal opportunities as other people. To achieve this, a disabled person must not be discriminated against. The main way to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities is to ensure accessibility.

According to Article 9 of the Convention, in order to enable persons with disabilities to lead independent lives and participate fully in all aspects of life, appropriate measures must be taken to ensure that persons with disabilities have access on an equal basis with others to the physical environment, to transport, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems , as well as other facilities and services open or provided to the public, in both urban and rural areas. These measures, which include identifying and eliminating obstacles and barriers to accessibility, should cover, in particular:

On buildings, roads, transport and other internal and external objects, including schools, residential buildings, medical institutions and workplaces;

For information, communication and other services, including electronic services and emergency services.

In cases where disabled people are not provided with access to services and architectural objects, they are discriminated against.

Article 2 of the Convention defines discrimination on the basis of disability as any distinction, exclusion or restriction on the basis of disability, the purpose or effect of which is to diminish or deny the recognition, realization or enjoyment on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural , civil or any other field.

According to Article 5 of the Convention, states prohibit any discrimination on the basis of disability and guarantee persons with disabilities equal and effective legal protection against discrimination on any ground. This, in particular, means that the state establishes mandatory requirements aimed at ensuring accessibility for disabled people to the activities of organizations providing services to the public.

Accessibility for persons with disabilities is achieved through reasonable accommodation. Article 2 of the Convention defines reasonable accommodation as making, where necessary in a particular case, necessary and appropriate modifications and adjustments, not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, in order to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy or enjoy on an equal basis with others all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Reasonable accommodation is when an organization makes accommodations for people with disabilities in two ways. Firstly, the accessibility of buildings and structures of this organization is ensured by equipping them with ramps, wide doorways, inscriptions in Braille, etc. Secondly, the accessibility of the services of these organizations for disabled people is ensured by changing the procedure for their provision, providing additional assistance to disabled people when receiving them, etc.

These adaptation measures cannot be unlimited. Firstly, they must meet the needs of people with disabilities caused by limitations in their life activities. For example, a person disabled due to a disease of the cardiovascular system when using a river port should have the opportunity to rest in a sitting position. However, this does not give rise to the right of a disabled person to use the superior hall for official delegations if there are seats in the common hall. Second, adjustment measures must be consistent with the capabilities of organizations. For example, the requirement to completely reconstruct a 16th-century building, which is an architectural monument, is not justified.

Reasonable accommodations provide an accessible environment for persons with disabilities. An important part of an accessible environment is universal design. Article 2 of the Convention defines universal design as the design of objects, environments, programs and services to make them usable to the greatest extent possible by all people, without the need for adaptation or special design. Universal design does not exclude assistive devices for specific disability groups where needed.

In general, universal design is aimed at making the environment and objects as suitable for use by all categories of citizens as possible. For example, a low-lying payphone can be used by people in wheelchairs, children, and short people.

Russian legislation specifies the implementation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The creation of an accessible environment for people with disabilities is regulated by Federal Law No. 181-FZ of November 24, 1995 “On Social Protection of Disabled Persons in the Russian Federation” (Article 15), Federal Law No. 273-FZ of December 29, 2012 “On Education in the Russian Federation” "(Article 79), Federal Law of December 28, 2013 N 442-FZ "On the fundamentals of social services for citizens in the Russian Federation" (clause 4 of Article 19), Federal Law of January 10, 2003 N 18-FZ " Charter of Railway Transport of the Russian Federation" (Article 60.1), Federal Law of November 8, 2007 N 259-FZ "Charter of Road Transport and Urban Ground Electric Transport" (Article 21.1), Air Code of the Russian Federation (Article 106.1), Federal Law dated July 7, 2003 N 126-FZ “On Communications” (clause 2 of Article 46), and other regulatory legal acts.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was approved by the UN General Assembly on December 13, 2006 and entered into force on May 3, 2008 after being ratified by 50 states.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev submitted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to the State Duma for ratification, and on April 27, 2012 the Convention was ratified by the Federation Council.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of December 13, 2006 summarized the theory and experience of applying the legislation of various countries in the field of protecting the rights and freedoms of people with disabilities. To date, 112 countries have ratified it.

Within the framework of the concept of equal rights and freedoms, the Convention introduces basic concepts common to all countries related to their implementation by people with disabilities. “In accordance with Article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, after ratification, the Convention will become an integral part of the legal system of the Russian Federation, and its established provisions will be mandatory for application. In this regard, the legislation of the Russian Federation must be brought into conformity with the provisions of the Convention.

The most important for us are the points for amending a number of articles of the Federal Law of November 24, 1995 No. 181-FZ “On the social protection of people with disabilities in the Russian Federation.” Establishment unified federal minimum social protection measures. Transition to new classifications of disability in order to normatively establish the degree of need of a disabled person for rehabilitation measures and reasonable adaptation of the environment. In a universal language - in the form of a system of letter codes, which will ensure the identification of the predominant types of disabilities in people with disabilities, measures to ensure accessibility of the physical and information environment for them. In my opinion, it sounds very vague. The concept of “Habilitation of the disabled” as a system and process of developing the abilities of disabled people for everyday, social and professional activities. The possibility of providing rehabilitation services by individual entrepreneurs (in accordance with the Model Regulations approved by the Government of the Russian Federation) the creation of a unified system for registering disabled people in the Russian Federation, which is already in the law, but does not “work”. Equipment necessary for a disabled person for living quarters “provided for by the federal list of rehabilitation measures, technical means of rehabilitation and services” (Article 17 No. 181-FZ).

In my opinion, declaratively, because everything has long been determined by the IRP issued to a disabled person. Amendments have also been made to a number of Federal Laws in order to promote self-employment of unemployed disabled people by allocating subsidies for starting their own business; the possibility of concluding a fixed-term employment contract with disabled people entering work, as well as with other persons who, for health reasons, in accordance with a medical certificate issued in the prescribed manner, are allowed to work exclusively of a temporary nature. Specific changes to the basic Federal laws have been made and are in force, “On social protection of disabled people in the Russian Federation” and “On veterans”

By order of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 30, 2005. The Federal List of rehabilitation measures, technical means of rehabilitation and services provided to disabled people was “expanded” by 10 units in 2006. What is most alarming and what have we encountered in practice? Now Article 11.1 remains “mobility devices for wheelchairs. But they are already on the List!

Since 2003, bicycle and motorized wheelchairs for disabled people and manually operated cars for disabled people have “disappeared” from the list. Obviously, it was decided that compensation of 100 thousand rubles for those who managed to “join” the preferential queue for receiving special vehicles before March 1, 2005. will replace one of the vital means of rehabilitation for people with disabilities and wheelchair users.

Currently, Russia is implementing a large-scale state program "Accessible Environment", which laid the foundation for the country's social policy to create equal opportunities for disabled people with other citizens in all spheres of life. An analysis of the legislation currently implemented in the Russian Federation shows that it basically complies with the norms of the convention, however, there is a certain list of innovations that require proper implementation for effective implementation in the future. It is necessary to create financial, legal, as well as structural and organizational conditions for the implementation of its main provisions immediately after it becomes a component of the legal system of the Russian Federation.

Monitoring of our legislation has shown that many of the key provisions of the Convention in the field of education, employment, and the creation of a barrier-free environment are to a greater or lesser extent reflected in federal legislation. But, for example, in the field of implementation of legal capacity, restriction or deprivation of legal capacity, our legislation does not comply with the international document and requires significant changes.

It must be borne in mind that most of the declared provisions of our legislation are “dead”, due to the lack of a clear mechanism for implementing norms at the level of by-laws, the lack of regulation of interdepartmental interaction, the low efficiency of criminal, civil, administrative liability for violation of the rights of persons with disabilities and a number of others systemic reasons.

For example, the norms of Art. 15 Federal Law "On social protection of disabled people in the Russian Federation" on the creation of an accessible environment, or Art. 52 of the Law "On Education". Giving parents the right to choose an educational institution for their child are declarative and fragmented in nature and cannot be directly used to oblige the creation of an accessible environment for people with disabilities, or to create conditions in educational institutions for the education of children with disabilities.

It is precisely because of the lack of a well-thought-out mechanism for implementing federal norms in the field of social protection and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities, because of the different interpretations of some provisions of these norms, and because of the practically “impunished inaction” of officials that the law enforcement practice of local executive authorities is reduced to “no” " provisions of federal legislation.

As already mentioned, ratification of the Convention will lead to the need to develop a completely different state policy regarding persons with disabilities and improve federal and regional legislation.

And if we are talking about the need to bring our legislation in the field of rehabilitation, education, employment, accessible environment in accordance with the Convention, then, first of all, we need to think about how to ensure the actual implementation of these norms.

This can be ensured, in my opinion, by strict anti-discrimination government policy, which we simply do not have. It is also necessary to pay great attention to the formation of positive public opinion.

human rights disability convention

Reading time: ~7 minutes Marina Semenova 467

International legislation regulating relations between states is based on the principles of freedom from discrimination for all people in the exercise of their rights. Along with generally accepted standards, there are separate documents that directly relate to people with disabilities.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international law treaty that defines the rights of persons with disabilities and the obligations of participating countries to promote, protect and ensure these rights. Includes the development of a social perspective, which recognizes the importance of international cooperation.

International law

Over the years of work of the UN, many regulations have been developed in the interests of disabled people. In creating legal protection, various aspects of the lives and hardships of the world's disabled population were studied. As a result, there are several dozen documents regulating the benefits of special people.

The main ones include:

1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The rights of the child, collected in the 1959 declaration.
International Covenants of 1966.
Document on social progress and development.
The 1975 Declaration of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the first international treaty. Dedicated to unhealthy people of all categories. Considered the founder of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of December 13, 2006.

In order to become a party to the Agreement, the state signs the agreement. Signature creates an obligation to ratify it. During the period between the consolidation of the treaty and the implementation of ratification, the country must refrain from actions that would prevent the target from complying with the provisions of the treaty.

Signing and ratification can take place at any time; the deadlines are observed by the candidate country to the extent of its internal preparedness for this event. Thus, the Republic of Belarus ratified the treaty only in 2016

The next step to becoming a party to the Agreement is ratification, which has specific measures confirming the intention to implement the legal rights and obligations contained in the international position.

Another action could be joining. It has the same legal effect as ratification, but if the country has signed the accession, then only one thing is required - the deposit of the instrument of accession.

What is the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities?

With the adoption of the 1975 Declaration, the term “disabled person” received an expanded definition. Later, during the development of the Convention, the existing definition was clarified to mean that a person has a permanent physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment which, when interacted with various barriers, is likely to interfere with his or her full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.

The standard enshrines the privilege of each UN member state to make its own adjustments to the existing definition and clarify disability by dividing it into groups. Currently in the Russian Federation there are officially recognized 3 groups for the adult population and the category “disabled children”, which is given to minors with any of the three disability groups.

What is the Convention? This is the text of the treatise itself and the Optional Protocol supplementing it. The signing of the document for the UN member countries took place in New York in 2006. The rules allow ratification of a document in any combination.

States that have ratified the settlement are legally required to comply with the standards set out in the Persons with Disabilities Convention

2008 was the moment when the international standard was signed. Since May 2012, Federal Law No. 46, this act has been widespread in the Russian Federation, and this is expressed by the fact that the actions of individuals, legal entities and the state itself must take into account the principles of the Convention. According to the Constitution, all international covenants adopted by the country are superior to any domestic law.

In Russia, only the Convention was adopted without the Optional Protocol. Failure to adopt the Optional Protocol limits the freedom of disabled persons to appeal against privileges violated by government agencies after exhaustion of all domestic remedies in Russia.

Why is it needed?

The need for global standards is important to clearly communicate the protection of the socially disabled people's opportunities and to reinforce the weight of these privileges. Previously adopted standards protecting unhealthy people, and the very attitude of healthy people towards inferior citizens should have brought relief to the life of the vulnerable population.

But when looking at the picture of the life existence of disabled people, it becomes clear that this potential does not work. People with various disabilities continue to be dispossessed and kept behind by the rest of society in almost all parts of the globe.

Discrimination against people with disabilities has led to the need for a legally binding document

Outlining the legal and moral obligations of the state to its citizens with disabilities to encourage and create privileges for them.

Certain elements of these obligations should be emphasized, namely:

Recognizing that “disability” is an evolving concept associated with behavioral and emotional barriers that prevent disabled people from participating in society. This means that disability is not fixed and can change depending on the attitude of society.
Disability is not considered a disease, and as evidence, these individuals can be admitted as active members of society. At the same time, using the full range of its advantages. An example is the tried and tested inclusive education, which confirms this element.
The State does not address the issue of a specific individual, but rather, through the treaty, identifies persons with long-term physical, mental, intellectual and sensory disabilities as beneficiaries, in accordance with the standard approach.

The Common Standard creates incentives to support national efforts to implement core commitments.

A preamble that gives a decoding of the most important aspects in a general context.
A purpose that reveals the need for a document.
Basic provisions that provide a comprehensive disclosure of primary terms.
General principles applied to the implementation of all rights enshrined in the global standard.
Responsibilities of the state that must be carried out in relation to special people.
The benefits of disabled persons, designated in such a way that they are equalized with the existing civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights of the ordinary person.
Identification of measures that signatory countries must take to ensure favorable conditions for the realization of human potential.
Framework for global cooperation.
Implementation and control, which obliges to create boundaries for monitoring and implementation of the treatise.
Final procedural points relevant to the Agreement.

An important article contained in the Covenant is the decision in all actions regarding children with disabilities to give primary consideration to the best interests of the child.

Obligations of participating States

The global standard defines general and specific obligations for participants in relation to the implementation of the rights of incapacitated persons. Based on the general obligations, signatory countries must:

Take measures of legislative and administrative resources aimed at promoting the privileges of disabled members of society.
Eliminate discrimination through the implementation of legislative acts.
To protect and encourage unhealthy people through the implementation of government programs.
Eliminate any practice of violating the privileges of people with disabilities.
Ensure that the benefits of special people are respected at public and private levels.
Provide access to assistive technology and training for the disabled and those helping them.
Conduct consulting and information work in decision-making processes affecting the interests of needy disabled persons. In the Russian Federation there is a legal platform “Consultant Plus”, which works precisely in this direction.

The performance of all duties requires supervision. The treatise lays down the principle of regulation at the national and global level. For this purpose, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is being established at the international level. It is entrusted with the functions of reviewing periodic reports from countries on the measures they have taken to implement the chapters of the document. The Committee is also empowered to consider individual communications and conduct investigations against parties that have ratified the Optional Protocol.

Implementation of the national protection and monitoring framework of the Agreement is open. The Global Standard recognizes that such structures may vary among countries, allowing for their own framework to be established in accordance with the legal and administrative system of the state. But the Pact stipulates that any body must be independent. And the national framework must include independent national institutions on human capabilities.

Although the Treaty does not establish new privileges for the individual, it calls on countries to protect and guarantee to people with disabilities their benefits. This not only clarifies that the participant excludes discrimination against people with disabilities, but also sets out a number of measures that members of world relations must take to create favorable conditions for real equality in society. The Agreement is a much more comprehensive document than other human benefits provisions, prohibiting discrimination and ensuring equality.

Video on the topic

1.2. Every citizen of the Russian Federation who is disabled has the right to participate in the management of state affairs, both directly and through representatives freely elected by secret ballot, to personally participate in secret voting, based on universal and equal rights, guaranteed, in particular, by such international legal acts such as the Convention on Standards of Democratic Elections, Electoral Rights and Freedoms in the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States (ratified by the Russian Federation - Federal Law of July 2, 2003 N 89-FZ), the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (ratified by the Russian Federation - Federal Law dated May 3, 2012 N 46-FZ), as well as Recommendations for improving the legislation of the member states of the CIS IPA in accordance with international electoral standards (appendix to the resolution of the Interparliamentary Assembly of member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States dated May 16, 2011 N 36-11) .

<Письмо>Ministry of Education and Science of Russia dated June 18, 2013 N IR-590/07 "On improving the activities of organizations for orphans and children without parental care" (together with "Recommendations for improving the activities of organizations for orphans and children without parental care, in order to create educational conditions in them that are close to family ones, as well as to involve these organizations in the prevention of social orphanhood, family placement and post-boarding adaptation of orphans and children left without parental care") by the Concept of long-term socio-economic development of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2020, approved by order of the Government of the Russian Federation of November 17, 2008 N 1662-r, the state program of the Russian Federation "Accessible Environment" for 2011 - 2015.

Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integrated International Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
Eighth session
New York, August 14–25, 2006

Interim report of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Comprehensive Integrated International Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities on the work of its eighth session

I. Introduction

1. In its resolution 56/168 of 19 December 2001, the General Assembly decided to establish an Ad Hoc Committee on a comprehensive and integrated international convention on the protection and promotion of the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, based on an integrated approach to work in the field of social development, human rights and non-discrimination and taking into account recommendations of the Human Rights Commission and the Commission for Social Development.
2. In its resolution 60/232 of 23 December 2005, the General Assembly decided that the Ad Hoc Committee, within existing resources, would hold two sessions in 2006, prior to the sixty-first session of the General Assembly: one of 15 working days from 16 January to 3 February , in order to fully complete the reading of the draft convention prepared by the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee, and one lasting 10 working days from 7 to 18 August.
3. At its seventh session, the Ad Hoc Committee recommended that the eighth session be held from 14 to 25 August 2006.

II. Organizational matters

A. Opening and duration of the eighth session

4. The Ad Hoc Committee held its eighth session at United Nations Headquarters from 14 to 25 August 2006. During its session, the Ad Hoc Committee held 20 meetings.
5. The substantive secretariat of the Ad Hoc Committee was provided by the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and the secretariat services for the Ad Hoc Committee were provided by the Disarmament and Decolonization Branch of the Department for General Assembly and Conference Management.
6. The eighth session of the Ad Hoc Committee was opened by the Chairman of the Committee, Don Makai, Ambassador of New Zealand.

B. Officials

7. The Bureau of the Special Committee continued to consist of the following officials:
Chairman:
Don Makai (New Zealand)
Deputy Chairmen:
Jorge Ballestero (Costa Rica)
Petra Ali Dolakova (Czech Republic)
Muataz Hiasat (Jordan)
Fiola Hoosen (South Africa)