Realising Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Ireland’s journey from wardship to supported decision-making

Providing wider context to the National Disability Authority’s (NDA) ongoing research examining the process and the experiences of people leaving wardship, the NDA has prepared a background paper on Ireland’s journey from wardship to supported-decision-making viewed through the lens of the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

The right to equal recognition before the law is recognised in several international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Article 12 of the UNCRPD describes the specific elements that States Parties, including Ireland, are required to take into account to ensure the right to equal recognition before the law for people with disabilities, on an equal basis with others.  Significantly, Article 12 deals not just with the right to equal standing before the law, but also legal agency and the ability to enforce rights.

This background paper considers the progress Ireland has made in meeting the requirements of Article 12 of the UNCRPD concerning equal recognition before the law, and the UNCRPD Committee’s guidance on this topic, by comparing the old wardship system and the new supported decision-making framework under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 (as amended). The paper finds that while Ireland’s new statutory framework of supported decision-making constitutes a substantial step forward in terms of compliance with Article 12, and a marked improvement on the wardship system, it does not fully align with the UNCRPD Committee’s interpretation as set out in General Comment No.1.

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