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Article 13 - Access to justice

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Third Session

Compilation of proposed revisions and amendments made by the members of the Ad Hoc Committee to the draft text presented by the Working Group as a basis for negotiations by Member States and Observers in the Ad Hoc Committee

(updated after the completion of the first reading at the Fourth Session, 26 August 2004 )

Article 9
[Equal recognition as a person before the law]

  (Equality under the law — Mexico )

[States Parties shall:

[[(a) Recognize persons with disabilities as individuals with (equal — China ) rights before the law (as other persons — Uganda ) [equal to all other persons — China ]; — Mexico ] (Recognize persons with disabilities as subjects of rights and obligations before the law, in equal conditions to those of persons without disabilities — Mexico )

[(b) [Accept — Uganda ] (ensure — Uganda ) that persons with disabilities have full legal capacity on an equal basis [as others, [including in [financial — Uganda ] (political, civil, social, cultural and economic — Uganda ) matters — India ] — Costa Rica ] (except as provided by law — India ); — China ] — EU] — Mexico ]

(Recognize persons with disabilities as individuals with equal rights before the law and guarantee equality before the law, without discrimination against persons with disabilities — EU)

(c) [(Endeavour to — India ) Ensure that where assistance is necessary to exercise that legal capacity:

(i) The assistance is (to the extent feasible — India ) proportional to the degree of assistance required by the person concerned and tailored to their circumstances, [and does not [interfere — Uganda ] (undermine — Uganda ) with the legal capacity, rights and freedoms of the person; — EU]

[(ii)         Relevant decisions are taken [only — EU] (by a competent, independent and impartial authority — EU) in accordance with a procedure established by law and with the application of relevant legal safeguards (including periodic revisions — Costa Rica ) (including provisions for review — EU);

[(d) (Endeavour to — India) Ensure that persons with disabilities who experience difficulty in asserting their rights, in understanding information and in communicating have access to assistance to understand information presented to them and to express their decisions, choices and preferences, [as well as to enter into binding agreements or contracts, to sign documents and act as witnesses; — India] — China, EU]

(States Parties Shall endeavour to provide assistance to persons with disabilities who experience difficulties in exercising their rights — China )

[(e) Take all appropriate and effective measures to ensure the equal right of persons with disabilities to own or inherit (use or otherwise dispose of — Kenya) property, to control their own financial affairs and (if the person with disabilities are in need they — Viet Nam) to have equal access to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of financial credit; (bearing in mind the quality and degree of disability — Syrian Arab Republic) — Mexico] — EU]

(f) Ensure that persons with disabilities are not arbitrarily deprived of their property. — Sierra Leone ] — Canada ]

((g) The State must protect the interests of persons with disabilities who cannot exercise their legal capacity in reduced/temporarily reduced situations. In exceptional circumstances when legal safeguards are necessary, the appointment of third parties as legal guardian/surrogate may be made in the best interests of persons with disabilities. — India )

((g) Take appropriate and effective measures to eliminate physical (social — Botswana ) and communication barriers and to reduce understanding difficulty of persons with disabilities in order to exercise all rights in judicial procedure which are provided in the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. — Japan)

((g) Take all necessary measures to ensure everyone whose rights and freedoms as recognized in this convention are violated should have an effective remedy before a national authority, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed in an official capacity. — Costa Rica )

(1.   States Parties shall recognize that, in civil matters, adults with disabilities have a legal capacity identical to that of other adults and shall accord them equal opportunities to exercise that capacity. In particular, they shall recognize that adults with disabilities have equal rights to conclude contracts and to administer property and shall treat them equally in all stages of procedure in courts and tribunals.

2.   States Parties shall ensure that where adults with disabilities need support to exercise their legal capacity, including assistance to understand information and to express their decisions, choices and wishes, the assistance is proportional to the degree of support required and tailored to the adult's individual circumstances.

3.   Only a competent, independent and impartial authority, under a standard and procedure established by law, can find an adult not to have legal capacity. States Parties shall provide by law for a procedure with appropriate safeguards for the appointment of a personal representative to exercise legal capacity on the adult's behalf. Such an appointment should be guided by principles consistent with this Convention and international human rights law, including:

(a) Ensuring that the appointment is proportional to the adult's degree of legal incapacity and tailored to the adult's individual circumstances; and,

(b) Ensuring that personal representatives take into account, to the maximum extent possible, the adult's decisions, choices and wishes. — Canada )

((c) Ensuring regular review of the findings of legal incapacity — Jordan )