The exercises and background information contained in this chapter will enable participants to work towards the following objectives:

• Define the right to access to justice
• Explain the importance of equal access to justice for people with disabilities
• Understand the interrelation between access to justice and other human rights
• Identify ways in which the rights of people with disabilities to access justice have been promoted or denied
• Understand the provisions on access to justice in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

"Access to justice" is a broad concept, encompassing people's effective access to the systems, procedures, information, and locations used in the administration of justice. People who feel wronged or mistreated in some way usually turn to their country’s justice system. In addition, people may be called upon to participate in the justice system, for example, as witnesses or as jurors in a trial. Unfortunately people with disabilities have often been denied fair and equal treatment before courts, tribunals, and other bodies that make up the justice system in their country because they have faced barriers to their access. Such barriers not only limit the ability of people with disabilities to use the justice system, but also limit their contributions to the administration of justice.

The ability to access justice is of critical importance in the enjoyment of all other human rights. For example, a person with a disability who feels that she or he has been denied the right to work may wish to turn to the justice system to seek a remedy. However, if the justice system fails to accommodate their physical, communication, or other disability-related needs, and/or expressly discriminates against her or him, then clearly denial of access to the justice system also results in denial of protection of the right to work. Similarly, a person with a disability who has been the victim of a crime may wish to report the crime to the police and press charges against the offender. However, if he or she is denied physical access to the police station, clear communication with the police, or access to information that is understandable, then that person may not be able fully to exercise her or his rights as a victim. These examples demonstrate that human rights are indivisible, interdependent, and interconnected.

The enjoyment of other human rights can also positively or negatively impact the ability of people with disabilities to enjoy access to justice. For example, the accessibility of transportation may determine whether or not a person with a disability is able to travel to a police station, courthouse, or other place where justice is administered. Similarly, a person with a disability who has had access to a quality education will be better able to understand and use the justice system, but if she or he has been denied the right to education, then participation in the justice system may be difficult or impossible.

To be fully included in society, people with disabilities need access to justice. As long as they face barriers to their participation in the justice system, they will be unable to assume their full responsibilities as members of society or their rights. For this reason it is important that barriers be removed so that people with disabilities can enjoy the equal opportunity to perform their duties as witnesses, jurors, lawyers, judges, arbitrators, and other participants in the administration of justice.

1. Brainstorm:
Ask participants to name some typical reasons that people in their community turn to the justice system. List as many of these as you can on a chart like that below. Include issues related to property, family matters, violent crimes, or instances where one person has hurt another but it is not considered a crime (e.g., making false spoken or written statements about a person). For each reason given, ask what institutions people turn to for justice in each situation (e.g., police, council of elders, religious authorities, magistrates, courts). List these on the chart.

2. List:
Ask what are the various roles individuals play in these institutions of the justice system mentioned in Step 1 (e.g., victim, perpetrator, witness, police, elder, lawyer, judge, specialized expert, juror, prison official) and list these on the chart.

• Do people with disabilities usually play any of these roles in your community? Check those that apply.

3. Discuss:
Consider those roles that people with disabilities do not play:

• What happens when people with disabilities are excluded from these roles and thus from full participation in the justice system? To the person with disabilities? To the justice system?
• Why do you think people with disabilities are excluded from these roles?
• What can be done to increase the participation of people with disabilities in the justice system?

1. Analyze:
Using the list of people and institutions involved when people turn to the justice system generated in Exercise 12.1, ask each participant (or pair of participants) to choose one role and to evaluate the barriers a person with a disability might face in fulfilling this role.

2. Role Play:
Ask each participant or pair to report on their analysis and to role play at least one of the barriers a person with a disability would face in fulfilling this role.

3. Discuss:

• What are the consequences when people with disabilities are excluded from full participation in the justice system? To the person with a disability? To the justice system? To society as a whole?
• Which barriers have the greatest effect on people with disabilities? On the justice system? On society as a whole?
• What can be done to eliminate these most significant barriers to full participation? List these and save the list for reuse in Exercise 12.3.

4. Analyze/Discuss:
Discuss with the group what it would take for each of these fictional people to achieve the right to live independently and with dignity. You might frame this as how to reverse the negative biographies and violations reported in Step 3.

• Consider the various supports guaranteed in Articles 12, 19, and 28.
• What could be done to obtain these supports?
• Would it help to advocate for these supports in terms of human rights?

The right to access to justice has its foundation in provisions in international law that address the equality of people before the law, their right to equal protection under the law, and their right to be treated fairly by a tribunal or court. These rights are addressed in Articles 6 through 11 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)2 and are addressed in more detail in Articles 14 - 16 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).3

Other treaties address the need to ensure that specific groups are able to enjoy these rights on an equal basis with others. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)4 and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)5 are particularly relevant for people with disabilities who may be subject to multiple discrimination, such as women with disabilities and ethnic minorities with disabilities. For example, Article 5(a) of CERD requires that States "eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms," and guarantee the right of everyone "to equal treatment before the tribunals and all other organs administering justice." Article 15 of CEDAW addresses these issues as they relate to women, and requires that States treat women "equally in all stages of procedure in courts and tribunals."

Although the 1993 UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (Standard Rules) does not expressly address the issue of access to justice, it does address a number of issues that can impact the enjoyment of access to justice by people with disabilities:

• Awareness-raising of the rights, needs, potential and contributions of people with disabilities in society (Rule 1)
• Support services to promote independence and facilitate the exercise of rights by people with disabilities (Rule 4)
• Physical, informational and communication accessibility (Rule 5)
• Education (Rule 6)
• Personnel training (Rule 19).6

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) expands upon the issues addressed in earlier human rights documents and helps to clarify how States can respect, protect, and fulfill the enjoyment of access to justice by people with disabilities. CRPD Article 13 guarantees the right of people with disabilities:

• to effective access to justice on an equal basis with others;
• to effective access to justice at all phases of the administration of justice, including at preliminary stages, such as initial investigations;
• to be both direct and indirect participants, including being witnesses;
• to receive procedural and age-appropriate accommodations to facilitate their access to justice.

Article 13 also requires States to provide training to those working in the administration of justice in order to help ensure effective access to justice by people with disabilities.

States must respect the right to access to justice by ensuring that State actors (e.g., police, judges, prison staff) do not interfere with the exercise and enjoyment of access to justice by people with disabilities. States must also protect the right by ensuring that non-State actors (e.g., private attorneys, families) do not interfere with the exercise and enjoyment of the right. Furthermore, States have an obligation to fulfill the right, by taking action to ensure that people with disabilities are able to exercise the right. The provision of disability-related training to those working in the administration of justice, is just one example of the type of action required of States by Article 13 to fulfill the right to access to justice.

International human rights law strongly supports the right of people with disabilities to have meaningful and effective access to justice in all its phases, not only as a right in itself, but also so that people with disabilities may better enjoy their other human rights and fully assume their responsibilities as members of society.

1. Review:
Divide the participants into small groups. Ask each group to work together to paraphrase Article 13 in common language and give some examples of how that right could be enjoyed and make a difference for people with disabilities in their community.

2. Paraphrase:
Read Article 13 aloud. Pause at each natural section to ask different groups for their paraphrase. Discuss the meaning of the section until everyone can agree on a paraphrase. Write the final paraphrase of Article 13 on chart paper.

3. Give examples:
Ask for examples of how that right could be enjoyed and make a difference for people with disabilities.

4. Discuss:

• How can Article 13 of the CRPD be used to set national disability rights agendas and formulate platforms of action for submission to political parties or government decision- makers?
• How can it be used to engage in dialogues with court administrators and ministries of justice?

Emphasize that human rights involve both rights and responsibilities.

• Ask if after learning about the human right of people with disabilities to access justice, the group is ready to think about taking concrete action;
• Acknowledge that although there is still much planning and information gathering to do, commitment to creating change is also very important;
• Explain that you would like to ask each participant to name one individual action, however small, that she or he is willing and able to take in the next month to promote the human right of people with disabilities to exercise their right to access to justice.

To plan advocacy for the human rights of people with disabilities, see Part 3, "Advocacy! Taking Action for the Human Rights of People with Disabilities," p. 229.

• Advocacy Incorporated:
  http://www.advocacyinc.org/index.cfm
• Reach Canada Equality and Justice for People with Disabilities:
  http://www.reach.ca/

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CHAPTER 12: ACCESS TO JUSTICE