Apr 25, 2025 | Advocacy, Legal submissions, News
On 25 April 2025, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), together with the Advice on Individual Rights in Europe Centre (AIRE Centre) and the European Council for Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) submitted a joint third-party intervention before the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the case of H.A.M. v. Denmark. The case concerns the expulsion on criminal grounds of a Somali individual with disabilities from Denmark, after over 30 years of asylum.
Mar 25, 2025 | Advocacy, News, Statements
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 32nd Session Day of General Discussion The International Commission of Jurists’ statement on the participation of persons with disabilities in public office during the Committee on the Rights of Persons with...
Apr 5, 2024 | Advocacy, News, Statements
A range of Zambian organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) and other civil society organizations (CSOs) – who early in March this year made submissions to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the Committee) ahead of its examination of Zambia’s compliance with and implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – have welcomed the Committee’s concluding observations and called on the Zambian authorities to take expeditious steps to ensure their implementation.
Mar 5, 2024 | Advocacy, Non-legal submissions
The International Commission of Jurists – in collaboration with the Mental Health Users Network of Zambia (MHUNZA), Disability Rights Watch (DRW), the Southern Africa Litigation Centre and the Validity Foundation – have made a joint submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the Committee), ahead of the examination Zambia’s initial report under article 35 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 6 and 7 March 2024.
Aug 28, 2020 | News
The ICJ contributed to and has endorsed a groundbreaking new UN standard aimed at ensuring effective access to justice for persons with disabilities, published today in Geneva.
Published today by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Principles and Guidelines on Access to Justice for Persons with Disabilities were adopted jointly by the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General on Disability and Accessibility. They have been endorsed by the ICJ and the International Disability Alliance.
The ICJ contributed to the development of the Principles and Guidelines, including through participation in expert consultations alongside disability rights experts, organizations of people with disabilities, State representatives, academics, and other judicial and legal practitioners. The ICJ also plans to assist with promotion and implementation of the Principles and Guidelines at the global and national levels.
Building on the provisions and interpretations of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other international standards and best practices, the document affirms ten key principles of access to justice for people with disabilities and sets out detailed guidelines on how to implement each one.
The Principles and Guidelines are intended to be a practical tool to help inform the design and implementation of justice systems that provide equal access to justice for persons with disabilities, in line with international human rights standards.
The Principles and Guidelines can be downloaded by clicking here.
Further information about the process of their development is available here, and the UN press release announcing their publication is here.
