Disability
We advise the government and parliament on how Denmark lives up to the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. We do this by writing legal briefs in relation to new legislation and provide recommendations as to how the convention can be implemented in Danish law.
We provide information in general on Denmark’s obligations in relation to the convention and study specific problems on the area, where we examine whether Denmark meets the obligations of the convention.
A complete implementation of the Convention of the rights of persons with disabilities requires for the state to have extensive knowledge on whether Danish legislation is in accordance with the convention. The state also needs to know how to promote the implementation of the convention. To this purpose the government published a plan of action on disability in 2013. It contains several good initiatives for improving the terms for persons with disabilities in Denmark. However, we believe that there still is a need for further initiatives.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
The purpose of the CRPD is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.
In July 2009 Denmark ratified the CRPD and the Danish Institute for Human Rights was appointed by the Danish Parliament to promote and monitor the implementation of the CRPD in Denmark.
To this end the Institute has constructed the disability index, which is an ongoing status on equal rights and living conditions for persons with disabilities. It is organised by the ten most important challenges facing Denmark in implementing the CRPD.
This part of the website is a short version of the institute’s Danish website on the CRPD. It explains what the convention entails and points at challenges for its implementation in Denmark.
