Objectives
Over 1 billion people, or 15% of the world’s population, live with a disability. Persons with disabilities face physical, social, economic, and attitudinal hurdles that prevent them from participating as equal members of society and often keep them from accessing education, employment, social and legal support systems.
The disability movement has advanced considerably, particularly with the international community’s adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRDP) as the first international human rights treaty on disability.
Despite its passage, however, important issues, ignorance, as well as major legal and policy challenges, remain. They stand as barriers to advancing full equality and the fundamental human rights of people with disabilities around the world.
The seminar series
To explore some of the advances, challenges, and questions, the CHRLP presente a seminar series in 2013-2014 on selected issues of human rights and disability law. The series built on the themes explored in the CHRLP’s previous series on “Disability, Human Rights and the Law.” We offered this series to continue to engage in one of the most compelling human rights issues of our day, consistent with the Faculty of Law’s tradition of analysis, scholarship and promotion of human rights and social justice.
The events followed the format of a teaching seminar and required resources were circulated ahead of time.
Support for this seminar series was generously provided by the Rathlyn Foundation, and the Aisenstadt Community Justice Initiatives.
The four seminars in this cycle were (click to jump down to each):
- October 2, 2013 - Human Rights and Inclusive Development: Integrating the Disability Perspective
- November 6, 2013 - Mental Health Disabilities and Access to Justice: Recognizing and Reinforcing Capacity
- January 27, 2014 - Proactive Approaches to Inclusion: Legislative and Policy Developments
- March 18, 2014 - Disability, Dignity and End-of-Life Care
Fall semester
Human Rights and Inclusive Development: Integrating the Disability Perspective
October 2, 2013 – 12:30 - 2:00 – Chancellor Day Hall, Stephen Scott Seminar Room (room 16)
RSVP to chrlp.law [at] mcgill.ca by September 27
The inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities is critical to advancing the development agenda. In light of the United Nations’ efforts to create a disability-inclusive post-2015 development agenda at the upcoming High Level Meeting on Disability and Development, this seminar will provide a forum for discussion of international strategies for achieving equality for persons with disabilities by implementing a disability perspective in development processes. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which is both a human rights treaty and a development tool, provides an opportunity to strengthen developmental policies related to the implementation of internationally-agreed development goals. The seminar will allow participants to reflect on programs and interventions that may begin to remove the barriers and increase accessibility in developmental efforts. This seminar is accredited for 1.5 hours of continuing legal education by the Quebec Bar (activity no. 10075381).
Update: download a summary of the seminar [.pdf]
Reading resources:
1) The Way Forward: a Disability Inclusive Development Agenda Towards 2015 and Beyond (United Nations High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on Disability and Development)
http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1590
2) “Disability and the Millennium Development Goals: A Review of the MDG Process and Strategies for Inclusion of Disability Issues in Millennium Development Goal Efforts”
http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/review_of_disability_and_the_mdgs.pdf
3) “The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Implications for the Equality Rights of Canadians with Disabilities,” by Ravi Malhotra and Robin F. Hansen
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1906731
4) This Ability: An International Legal Analysis of Disability Discrimination, by Anne-Marie Mooney Cotter (see Chapter 5)
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/mcgill/docDetail.action?docID=10211018
Mental Health Disabilities and Access to Justice: Recognizing and Reinforcing Capacity
November 6, 2013 – 12:30 - 2:00 –Chancellor Day Hall, Stephen Scott Seminar Room (room 16)
RSVP to chrlp.law [at] mcgill.ca by November 1
This seminar will explore Canadian and U.S. perspectives on the intersection of disability, mental health and access to justice. Recent decades have witnessed an evolution in the understanding between life circumstances, mental health and involvement with the law, and yet people with mental illnesses face significant obstacles in protecting their basic civil rights. They also remain highly over-represented in the criminal justice system. The CRPD has contributed to the debate around mental illness and access to justice. In particular, the recognition of the legal capacity of persons with disabilities “on an equal basis with others” has important implications in relation to both criminal responsibility and civil rights. This seminar will allow for a discussion of the legal and non-legal issues and challenges that exist at the nexus of mental disability, human rights, and access to justice. This seminar is accredited for 1.5 hours of continuing legal education by the Quebec Bar (activity no. 10075399).
Moderator: Derek J. Jones (CHRLP & Research Group on Health and Law)
Resource Persons: Robert Dinerstein (Professor, American University Washington College of Law), Emily Hazlett (Law Student Intern, Disability Rights International)
Update: download a Summary of the seminar [.pdf]
Suggested Reading and Video Resources
1) Milan Sýkora v. Czech Republic, European Court of Human Rights (see especially paras 100-13)
hudoc.echr.coe.int/sites/eng/pages/search.aspx?i=001-114658
2) Dinerstein, Robert, "Implementing Legal Capacity Under Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: The Difficult Road From Guardianship to Supported Decision-Making"
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2040938
3) United Kingdom House of Lords, Select Committee on the 2005 Mental Capacity Act, Autumn 2013 Hearings (see especially minutes 12h00-12h20)
www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=14017
4) Australia, Victoria Office of Public Advocate, "Supported Decision-Making: Background and Discussion Paper" (see especially section 6.1)
www.publicadvocate.vic.gov.au/file/file/Research/Discussion/2009/0909_Supported_Decision_Making.pdf
Additional Resources
1) Nidus (British Columbia) Personal Planning Resource Centre Representation Agreements
www.nidus.ca/?page_id=46
2) Ontario Law Commission, Legal Capacity, Decision-Making and Guardianship Project
lco-cdo.org/en/capacity-guardianship
3) UK, Social Care in Excellence Teaching Videos on Mental Capacity and the Mental Capacity Act of 2005 (see especially "Social Care TV: Raymond's Money")
www.scie.org.uk/socialcaretv/topic.asp?t=mentalcapacity
4) In the matter of Dameris L, Surrogate Court of New York, December 2012
cases.laws.com/new-york/new-york-matter-of-dameris-l
5) Mental Disability Advocacy Centre, "Legal Capacity in Europe: A Call to Action to Governments and to the EU"
www.mdac.info/en/news/end-civil-death-call-action-right-legal-capacity-europe
Winter semester
Proactive Approaches to Inclusion: Legislative and Policy Developments
January 27, 2014 – 12:30 - 2:00 – New Chancellor Day Hall, room 202
RSVP to chrlp.law [at] mcgill.ca by January 24
PLEASE NOTE THE ROOM HAS CHANGED.
Domestic legislation and policy remains one of the most effective means of protecting the rights of persons with disabilities and facilitating social change. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 was a watershed in its guarantee of equal opportunity and non-discrimination in education, employment, health, and access to justice for persons with disabilities. The legislation inspired other jurisdictions to draft their own disability rights laws, such as the Ontarians with Disabilities Act in 2001 and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act in 2005, and served as an example for the drafting of the CRPD. This event will provide an opportunity for students, professors, and educators to discuss proactive approaches to implementing ongoing legal and policy developments in the areas of disability and human rights. This seminar is accredited for 1.5 hours of continuing legal education by the Quebec Bar (activity no.10075992).
Update: download a Summary of the seminar [.pdf]
Moderator: Colleen Sheppard (Professor & Director, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, McGill University, Faculty of Law)
Resource Persons:
Arlene Kanter (Professor, Syracuse University College of Law);
David Lepofsky (Chair, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Alliance, AODA)
Aurélie LeBrun (Researcher, Quebec Human Rights and Youth Rights Commission).
Suggested Readings
1) Beer, Charles, “Charting a Path Forward: Report of the Independent Review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act” [.pdf]
2) Lepofsky v. Toronto Transit Commission, Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (2007)
3) Commission des droits de la personne et les droits de la jeunesse du Québec, “Awareness Project: Towards Universal Access to Goods and Services in Pharmacies and Supermarkets – Summary” [.pdf]
“Projet de sensibilisation: vers un accès universel aux biens et services des pharmacies et des établissements d’alimentation" Résumé et rapport final [.pdfs].
4) Kanter, Arlene S., “The Promise and Challenge of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” 34 Syracuse J. Int’l L. & Com. (2007) [.pdf]
5) Prince, Michael J., “What about a Disability Rights Act for Canada?” Canadian Public Policy vol. 36, no. 2 (2010) [.pdf]
Additional Resources
1) ones, Sarah, “Walk this Way: Do Public Sidewalks Qualify as Services, Programs or Activities under Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act?” 79 Fordham L. Rev. 2259 (2010) [.pdf]
2) Hill, Eve and Peter Blanck, “The Future of Disability Rights Advocacy and the ‘Right to Live in the World’” 15 Tex. J. on C.L. & C.R. 1 (2010) [.pdf]
3) Benfer, Emily, “The ADA Amendments Act: An Overview of Recent Changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act” American Constitution Society for Law and Policy [.pdf]
4) Council of Canadians with Disabilities, “The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Making Domestic Implementation Real and Meaningful” (2011)
5) United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities
www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml
6) Americans With Disabilities Act
www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.htm
7) Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001
http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_01o32_e.htm
8) Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005
www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_05a11_e.htm
9) Office des personnes handicapées du Québec
www.ophq.gouv.qc.ca/loffice/mission-de-loffice.html
10) Action Kit for Raising Disability Accessibility Issues in Two February 13, 2014 Ontario By-Elections [.doc]
Disability, Dignity and End-of-Life Care
March 18, 2014 – 12:30 - 2:00 – Chancellor Day Hall, Stephen Scott Seminar Room (room 16)
RSVP to chrlp.law [at] mcgill.ca by March 14
PLEASE NOTE THE DATE HAS CHANGED.
Over the last decades, a number of jurisdictions have turned to the law to guide decision- making or address contested human rights issues of persons disabled by illness or injury near the end of life. In the last two years, developments in Canada have re-ignited public debate on end-of-life care and dying with dignity. Quebec has proposed end-of-life legislation. A British Columbia Court has found the Canadian Criminal Code ban on assisted suicide violates the Canadian Charter, but the decision has been overturned and is pending before the Canadian Supreme Court. The seminar will allow participants to identify key issues and exchange ideas on the difficult questions inherent in end-of-life care, human dignity and respect for the rights of persons with disabilities. This seminar is accredited for 1.5 hours of continuing legal education by the Quebec Bar (activity no. 10075984).
Update: download a Summary of the seminar [.pdf]
Moderator:
Professor Colleen Sheppard, Director, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, McGill University
Panelists:
Dr. Justine Farley, MD, Palliative Care Team St. Mary’s Hospital, Montreal
Me Joseph Arvay, QC, Farris Law, Vancouver, British Columbia
Me Derek Jones, McGill Research Group on Health and Law, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, McGill University
Commentator:
Dr Jonas-Sébastien Beaudry, Boulton Research and Teaching Fellow, Faculty of Law, McGill University
Recommended readings
1) Swetz, K.M., Kamal, A.H. "In the Clinic - Palliative care" Ann Intern Med. 7 Feb. 2012. [.pdf]
2) Carter v. Canada, 2013 BCCA 435, reversing Carter v. Canada, 2012 BCSC 1587
3) Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCAC) and the Canadian Association of Community Living, Factum in Carter v Canada, before the BC Court of Appeal (Dec 2012) [.docx]
4) CCAC, "Prejudice Erodes Free Choice in End of Life Decision-making," (2013).
5) Quebec, Bill No 52 /Projet de Loi 52: An Act Respecting End of Life (June 2013) (with link to amendments) )
6) Bill 52 factums: Mémoires déposés lors du mandat « Consultations particulières sur le projet de loi 52 »
7) Confédération des organismes de personnes handicapées du Québec (COPHAN): projet de loi 52 concernant les soins de fin de vie 2013.
8) COPHAN, Mourir dans la dignité: une question qui dépasse le suicide assisté et l'euthanasie (Août 2010) [.pdf]
9) COPHAN, Projet de loi 52 concernant les soins de fin de vie – 2013 [.pdf]
10) European Court of Human Rights, Euthanasia and assisted suicide Factsheet (2013) [.pdf]
11) Malcolm, A.H. "Baby Doe Decision: A Tentative First Step on a Profound Issue." New York Times, 11 Jun 1986.
12) Malpas, P.J. "Advanced directives and older people: ethical challenges in the promotion of advance directives in New Zealand." J Med Ethics 2011:37; 5: 285-89 [.pdf]
13) McCormack & Flechais R “The role of psychiatrists and mental disorder in assisted dying practices around the world: a review of the legislation and official reports.” Psychosomatics, 2012;53: 319–26. [.pdf]
14) UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, e.g., Arts. 5, 7, 10, 25, on health, equality, life, security of the person.
For more information
The Seminar Series is hosted by the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism (CHRLP) and the McGill Law Students Human Rights Working Group (Disability and the Law Portfolio), and supported by the Aisenstadt Community Justice Initiatives and a generous grant from the Rathlyn Fund for Disability Rights.
The accessible entrances to Chancellor Day Hall are as follows:
- Law Library entrance at 3660 Peel Street
- Outside door to the Law cafeteria in the basement (south of Chancellor Day Hall, in front of Dr Penfield)
- Level 7 of the McIntyre indoor parking complex
There are ramps for wheelchair access and the elevators are located at either end of New Chancellor Day Hall.
If you have further questions, contact Nicholas Caivano at nicholas.caivano [at] mail.mcgill.ca or Juan Sebastián Rodríguez Alarcón at juan.rodriguezalarcon [at] mail.mcgill.ca.
