Article 33(2) of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Another Role for National Human Rights Institutions?
| Date | 01 March 2011 |
| Published date | 01 March 2011 |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934411102900106 |
| Author | Gauthier de Beco |
| Subject Matter | Part A: Article |
Netherlands Q uarterly of Human R ights, Vol. 29/1, 84–106, 2011.
84 © Netherlands Ins titute of Human Rig hts (SIM), Printed in the Net herlands.
ARTICLE 332 OF THE UN CONVENTION
ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH
DISABILITIES: ANOTHER ROLE FOR
NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS?
G B*
Abstract
is article concerns Article 33(2) of the U N Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities (CRPD or Convention) which provides that States should designate or
establish one or more independent mechanisms to promote, protect and monitor the
implementation of the Convention taking into account the Paris Principles. It ana lyses
the content of Article 33(2) with a view to determining if national human right s
institutions (NHRIs) should be designated indepen dent mechanisms. e article adopts
a two-pronged approach by explaining the functions of NHRIs and by evaluating the ir
suitability to play the role of independent mechanisms. Aer explaining the importan ce
of national monitoring, the a rticle discusses the Paris Principles and the role of NHRIs
and examine s whether these institutions should exercise the f unctions of indepen dent
mechanisms. It also deals with cooperation between these mechanism s and the other
actors mentioned in Article 33. Finally, the article analyses the consequences for NHR Is
of the reference to the Paris Pr inciples in Article 33(2) of CRPD.
1. INTRODUCTION
e 2006 UN Convention on the Ri ghts of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD or
Convention) is a great step in the ach ievement of disability rights.1 Not only does t he
Convention l l a gap in international human rig hts law but it also brings a huma n
rights d imension to disabi lity issues. Furthermore, it c reates a shi of paradigm no
longer regard ing disabled persons as persons who need assistance b ecause of their
* Gauthier de Beco, Associate Researcher, Centre for Philosophy of Law, University of Louvain,
Belgium. Al l internet sites were last a ccessed on 5 Januar y 2011.
1 CRPD was adopted on 13 March 2006 and entered into force on 3 May 2008 aer its 20th ratication.
On 5 January 2 011, there were 147 signatories a nd 97 ratications.
Article 33(2) of the UN Conve ntion on the Rights of Persons w ith Disabilitie s
Netherlands Q uarterly of Human R ights, Vol. 29/1 (2011) 85
impairments (the so-called medical model) but considering them as rig ht-holders
who should be integrated into society (the so-called soc ial model).2 e preamble of
CRPD conrms th is.3
is is not t he only achievement of CR PD. In add ition to enounci ng the rights
of persons with disabilities, the Convention outlines the inst itutional changes which
States have to undertake in order to facilitate its implementation. Article 33(2) of CRPD
requires that States de signate or establ ish one or more independent mechan isms to
promote, protect a nd monitor the implementation of t he Convention taki ng into
account the ‘Pri nciples relating to the status and functioning of national institutions
for the protection and promotion of human rights’. es e Pr inciples, commonly
called t he Paris Principles, were dr aed at the First Internat ional Workshop of
National Human Rights Institutions held in Paris in 1991 and endorsed by both the
UN General A ssembly and Commission on Human Rights in 1993.4 By focu ssing
not only on international monitoring but also on national monitoring , CRPD created
another shi of parad igm.
Besides analysi ng the content of Article 33(2), this ar ticle looks into the potenti al
role of national human rights institutions (NHRIs). e question is whether NHRIs
should play the role of independent mecha nisms. e article is div ided into seven
sections. Sec tion 1 is the introduction. Se ction 2 explains the i mportance of national
monitoring as well as the reason why it found its way into CRPD. Section 3 introduces
the Paris Principles and examines the role of NHRIs. Section 4 ana lyses the var ious
possibilities oered by Article 33(2) and examines whether NHR Is should exercise
the functions of i ndependent mechanisms. Section 5 deals w ith cooperation between
these mechan isms and the other actors mentioned in Ar ticle 33. Section 6 exa mines
the questions a rising f rom the reference to the Paris P rinciples i n Art icle 33(2) of
CRPD. Section 7 is the conclusion.
e article adopts a t wo-pronged approach. On the one h and, it explai ns t he
functions of NHRIs. On the other hand, it evaluates whether NHRIs are suited to play
the role of independent mechanisms. is includes an examination of the consequences
for them of the reference to the Paris Principl es in Article 33(2) of CRPD.
e article aims not only to give insight into the role of independent mechanisms and
eva lua te th e su itab ili ty of NHR Is b ut al so t o gu ide St ate s par ti es (or f utu re S tate s pa rti es)
which a re currently considering how t hey should apply Article 33(2) of CRPD. Many
2 Arnardóttir, O. and Quinn, G., ‘ Introduction’, i n: Arna rdóttir, O. and Quinn, G. (eds), e UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabili ties. European and Scandinavian Persp ectives
Martinus Nijho Publi shers, London/Boston, 2009, pp. xv-xxiv, at p. x vii; and Kayess, R. and
French P., ‘Out of Dark ness into Light? Introducing the Convention on the R ights of Persons w ith
Disabiliti es’, Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2008, pp. 1–34, at p. 6.
3 Preamble (e) of CRPD reco gnises that ‘disabilit y is an e volving concept and that d isability re sults
from the interaction between person s with impairments and attitudin al and environmental barriers
that hinders t heir full and e ective particip ation in society on an eq ual basis with ot hers’.
4 UN GA, Resolution 48/134, UN Doc. A /RES/48/134, 20 Decemb er 1993.
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