Abstract of M.A. Stein lecture

SOMETHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US? GLOBAL TRENDS IN

LEGAL CAPACITY UNDER THE CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS

OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

M.A. Stein

Harvard Law School Project on Disability (HPOD), USA

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is

the first human rights treaty of the twenty-first century, and the first

legally binding international instrument to protect the globe’s six

hundred and fifty million individuals with disabilities. Ratified by nearly

one hundred countries, and in operation since May 2008, the CRPD is

effectuating global change. People with disabilities have been

transformed from the objects of charity to the subjects of rights, and

are claiming their human rights in all corners of the world based on the

theme of the CRPD negotiations: “Nothing about us without us.” At the

same time, some countries are actively resisting the notion of legal

capacity–the human right by which persons with disabilities make

decisions about their own lives. Professor Stein, who was active in the

CRPD negotiations and has worked on disability issues in dozens of

countries, will discuss the CRPD generally. Stein also will discuss

recent developments from around the world, including what the UN

Disability Committee in Geneva is doing, and how the CRPD is being

implemented and monitored in different countries where the Harvard

Law School Project on Disability (www.hpod.org) has been active.