Assessing the right to physical access to justice, for persons with disabilities

Abstract

Access to justice for persons with disabilities is specifically safeguarded in a number of international conventions, standards and recommendations. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities to access to justice is explicitly referenced in Article 13 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Access to justice was first formally referenced in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights(UDHR), which is a formative human rights document, the term access to justice was not however specifically used to label the right therein. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) also sets forth this right in Article 14, which states that: "all persons should be equal before the courts and tribunals." However in reality persons with disabilities, often lack access to justice and equal protection of the law.