1st Edition
Disabled Justice? Access to Justice and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Disability offers a new lens through which to view the effectiveness of access to justice, and the inclusiveness of the justice system as a whole. This book analyses the experience of people with disabilities through the entire justice system, from making a complaint, to investigation, and through the court/tribunal process. It also considers the participation of people with disabilities in a variety of roles in the justice system - as witness, defendant, complainant, plaintiff, lawyer, judge and juror. More broadly, it also critically examines the subtle barriers of access to justice which might exist in a given society - including barriers to grassroots disability advocacy, legal education and training, the right to vote and the right to stand for election which may apply to people with disabilities. The book is international and comparative in scope with a focus primarily on examples of legal practice and justice systems in common law countries. The work will be of interest to scholars working in the areas of human rights, equality and non-discrimination, disability rights activists and legal professionals who work with people with disabilities to achieve access to justice.
Biography
Eilionóir Flynn is the Deputy Director of the Centre for Disability Law and Policy, and Senior Lecturer at the School of Law, National University of Ireland Galway. Her interest in disability law stems from a broader interest in social justice and a recognition of the invisibility of people with disabilities in broader human rights discourse. Her current research interests in this field include legal capacity, disability advocacy and access to justice, and she has published widely in national and international peer reviewed journals on these issues, as well as producing a monograph on the implementation of the CRPD for Cambridge University Press.
’Disabled Justice? Access to Justice and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities presents a well-crafted conceptual framework through which the author provides an intelligent and instructive critique of access to justice for people with disabilities identifying key areas for reform that go to the heart of building an inclusive justice system.’ Rosemary Kayess, University of New South Wales, Australia 'This book is a must-read for scholars, activists and policy-makers interested in access to justice, even if their particular focus is not disability. Its accessible style and fascinating content make it a gripping read as well as a powerful academic text. I have every confidence that it will be, as Flynn hopes, a conversation-starter which will spark interest and debate in this hitherto somewhat neglected topic.' Anna Lawson, University of Leeds, UK ’The CRPD, for the first time in the history of international human rights law, recognizes access to justice as a distinct human right. Drawing upon the intersectionality inherent to disability, Eilionóir Flynn in this path breaking study competently constitutes the symbolic, procedural, substantive and participatory components of this right.’ Amita Dhanda, Centre for Disability Studies, Nalsar University of Law, India
