Peru leads legal paradigm shift to benefit persons with disabilities
It seems obvious that all people have the right
to express and exercise their individual preferences and will when
making legal decisions. Yet, this is not the case for millions of
people living with disabilities in the region, who are forced to
relegate their rights to a third party. The recognition of these
rights represents a paradigm shift that is currently being promoted
by the OAS, through the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (CEDDIS), and it’s
Working Group which met in Lima, Peru on April 15 and 16.
In support of the efforts underway to promote
this paradigm shift, the Working Group—composed of 30 delegates from
11 countries in the region—gathered
in Lima to continue the process of developing an Instructive
Handbook on the specific provisions and safeguards for exercising
the legal capacity of peoples with disabilities. The handbook is
intended to aid the authorities and judicial officers in the State
Parties to the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities (CIADDIS).
Ana Evelyn Jacir de Lovo, Chief of the Inclusion
of Vulnerable Groups Section at the OAS-SEDI, explained that "the
handbook will support the judicial system with very specific
guidelines on how to operationalize what is proposed by the CEDDIS,
where it is suggested that instead of substituting the will of a
person with disabilities, it is necessary to provide the provisions
and safeguards necessary to ensure that they can exercise their
rights. In case that a person needs to be appointed to represent a
person with disabilities, that representation should be chosen by
the person with disabilities, limited, and
should always keep in mind the preferences of the person that is
being represented."
It is fitting that Peru served as the venue for
this event, given the country’s recent progress in this matter. This
progress was presented at an additional meeting held between the
international delegation of the CEDDIS and the Special Committee of
the Congress of Peru that is currently drafting a bill to reform the
Civil Code, intended to ensure the exercise of legal capacity by
persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities. At the
meeting, Parliamentarian John Reynaga, president of the Committee,
told a
local newspaper that "We must abolish the civil death for people
with mental and intellectual disabilities. Right now, we (Peru) are
leaders in having worked closely in proposing a legal formula in
accordance to the Convention of the United Nations and the
Organization of American States, in favor of this relegated sector,
providing the legal capacity under the same conditions as other
citizens in all aspects of life, with provisions and safeguards,
thus ending the practice of judicial interdiction".
Indeed, the progress in Peru was built upon the
efforts of the OAS at the hemispheric level to uphold the rights of
peoples with disabilities. These initiatives include a series of
trainings, technical assistance for specialized authorities, and
access to a network of specialists, not only of the Department of
Social Inclusion of the OAS, but also the Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights, the UN Committee as well as national authorities
and experts from civil society who are sharing their experiences to
strengthen the legal and institutional changes being promoted by
countries.
The high level of regional interest in this issue
was evident during the Working Group’s meeting,
not only by the clear commitment of the countries
represented, but also by the more than 3,000 spectators that went
online to watch its live broadcast. Going forward, the Technical
Secretariat of CEDDIS-OAS will continue to offer training sessions
aimed at promoting the creation of legislative harmonization
initiatives of the region’s Civil Codes, as to ensure the full
exercise of rights of peoples with disabilities.