Charting the Development of Human Rights Law Through the CRPD

Abstract

International human rights law is an increasingly articulate legal regime that applies core human rights principles to populations subject to historic disadvantage and to thematically focused areas. Since the adoption of the International Bill of Human Rights, the human rights system has evolved not only in content but also in institutional structures and mechanisms. Consequently, the human rights system has witnessed an increase in its attendant lawmaking potential. The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD or Convention) reflects this accretion. One of its core mandates is to channel and make applicable existing human rights obligations to the specific lived experiences of persons with disabilities. Indeed, the call for a disability-specific treaty arose largely due to the eliding—explicitly or programmatically—of disability rights from the scope and content of otherwise universal protection accorded to all persons under the international human rights system.