Mapping the UN Disability Rights System: A Two-Tier Pathway to Universalism

Protection of disability (different ability) rights in the United Nations ('UN') system is at the core of the disability rights architecture, at the crossroads between treaty law and general international law. Along the lines of the general human rights implementation system, the UN protects and fulfils human rights via a two-track pathway: (1) 'directly', via institutions established under the UN Charter; and (2) 'indirectly', via a specific treaty regime, which is centred on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ('CRPD'). Institutions grounded in the UN Charter, the CRPD as well as other general and specific UN human rights treaties are not conceived of in isolation, but rather interact, aiming to achieve inclusiveness nationally, based on the concepts of independent living, accessibility and participation. This is particularly challenging as concerns intellectual disability and requires that States implement a change of paradigm centred on the concept of deinstitutionalisation.