1 DOMESTICATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 10 MARCH

2 1.CURRENT MECHANISMS TOWARDS THE DOMESTICATION OF THE UNCRPD 2.INDEPENDENT MONITORING STRUCTURE AND THE ROLE OF THE SAHRC 3.ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 3.1LAW REFORM 3.2PHYSICAL ACCESS TO COURT BUILDINGS 3.3EQUALITY COURTS 3.4SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS 3.5REPORT ON SOUTH AFRICAN DISABILITY LEGISLATION & POLICY GAP ANALYSIS 3.6NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON DISABILITY 3.7INVESTIGATION INTO THE NEED FOR FURTHER LAW REFORM CONTENTS 2

3 Current best structure and practices  The legislative and constitutional mandate of the SAHRC includes monitoring the implementation of and compliance with international and regional conventions and treaties, including the UNCRPD.  The UNCRPD provides for the designation of an Independent Monitoring Mechanism – Article 33(2)  The DSD and the DoJ&CD has supported the designation of the SAHRC as an independent Monitoring Mechanism in terms of articled 33(2) of the UNCRPD.  The SAHRC submitted its business plan to advance the motivation for the appointment as an independent monitoring mechanism. INDEPENDENT MONITORING STRUCTURE 3

4 Why the SAHRC should be the best model to act as an Independent Monitoring Mechanism  The SAHRC is currently accredited “A” status with the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions for its compliance with the requirements of independence and pluralism, amongst others.  The SAHRC, apart from being a constitutionally- established body, is the only South African body which lays claim to official speaking rights at the United Nations Human Rights Council.  The SAHRC currently chairs the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), a body which convenes 106 international NHRIs to advise and liaise with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights INDEPENDENT MONITORING STRUCTURE 4

5  The SAHRC is established in terms of Chapter 9 of the Constitution of the Republic to ensure the implementation of all rights listed in Chapter 2 of the Constitution, which includes section 9 rights to equality of persons with disabilities.  The SAHRC has identified disability rights as a thematic special focus area for the Commission, and has dedicated programmes that are directed at ensuring state compliance with disability rights.  The SAHRC has designated a focus area Commissioner responsible for overseeing the implementation of strategic activities directed at promoting, protecting and monitoring the realisation of the rights of persons with disabilities.  The SAHRC currently has dedicated operational units that carry out work on disability rights. The Commissions operations are divided into four units which work in close collaboration with each other. INDEPENDENT MONITORING STRUCTURE 5

6 LAW REFORM: Update on SALRC’s investigation into constitutionality of statutes of South African law, with special attention to section 9 of the Constitution: Project 25  Project 25 entails a review of statutory provisions that would result in discrimination as defined in the equality clause, which prohibits unfair discrimination on the basis of 16 identified prohibited grounds, including disability.  The inquiry is limited because it dealt primarily with statutory provisions that were blatantly in conflict with the equality clause in general and not superficially with disability. This delimitation arose mainly from considerations of time and capacity. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 6

7 LAW REFORM cont…  During the investigation some other anomalies and obvious inconsistencies with the Constitution were identified, and recommendations have been made on how to address them.  Consequently, a law or a provision in a law which appears, on the face of it, to be neutral and non-discriminatory but which has or could have a discriminatory effect or consequences has been left to the judicial process. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 7

8 LAW REFORM cont…  The methodology adopted in this investigation is to review the statute book of a Dept – the SALRC identifies a Dept, reviews the national legislation administered by that Dept for constitutionality and redundancy, sets out the preliminary findings and proposals in a consultation paper and consults with that Dept to verify the SALRC’s preliminary findings and proposals.  Finally, the SALRC develops a report in respect of each Department that reflects the comments on the discussion paper and contains a draft Bill proposing amending legislation.  By December 2015 the Commission had approved the publication of 22 discussion papers for general information and comment and 14 reports as part of project 25.  This investigation is still continuing. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 8

9 LAW REFORM cont… Update on the project on supported decision-making for persons with decision-making impairment  The SALRC approved a final report on supported decision-making (including a proposed draft Bill) at its last meeting on 5 December  The investigation concerns the manner in which South African law addresses the needs of persons whose ability to make choices to exercise their legal capacity, has been impaired.  A legitimate expectation for the law is that it should establish a structure within which autonomy and self-determination are recognised and protected, while also protecting persons with decision-making impairment from abuse, neglect and exploitation. South African law does not fulfill these requirements at present.  The recommendations in the Commission’s Report aim to provide suitable solutions for this deficiency with regard to existing impairment as well as possible future impairment. In doing so, the Commission has taken into account relevant requirements of the UNCRPD. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 9

10 Update on physical access to court buildings  Completed projects are a total of +377 for both Phases i.e. Phase one and Phase two together. Phase I include:- Mainly RAMPS and Rails i)At least one disability parking ii)Access to the building, mainly the entrance iii)Access to at least one court room and iv)Access to at least one toilet on the ground floor. Phase II include:-  This phase generally provide the access to most of the areas in the court buildings. This phase is additional to phase one above. i) Lifts –Most of the courts have been installed with lifts already and we need to install Braille and voice services in all courts. ii) Voice –Few courts have voice services due to budget constraints. iii) Braille- the installation of Braille has not yet commenced. iv) Counters of the 377 completed courts are accessible. Of the remaining +/- 117 courts, phase one and two are being implemented at the same time. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 10

11 Awareness raising on Equality courts, through workshops conducted in all nine provinces :  The aim is to provide a guide to the Equality Act to civil society organisations (CSOs);  Practical training of CSOs and Clerks of the Equality Court on the procedures prescribed in PEPUDA;  Raising awareness of the role of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) in respect of PEPUDA and the role of Legal Aid South Africa (LASA);  Providing a networking opportunity to ensure the more active and effective use of the Equality Courts to counter discrimination, Representatives from disabled persons (deaf, wheel chair users, and blind people), Athletic SA, Legal fraternity and representatives of organisations actively involved with foreign nationals, human rights issues, as well as reporters from community newspapers and radio stations have attended these workshops. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 11

12 Sign Language Interpreters  Court interpreters underwent training on sign language to try and ensure that a sign language interpreter was always present in court to assist in proceedings involving a person who is deaf.  DoJ&CD has entered into a MoU with Deaf SA to engage the services of an accredited interpreter nominated by Deaf SA. In this way the Department can have some security that a skilled accredited interpreter is utilised as and when the need arises to provide this service. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 12

13 Report on South African Disability Legislation & Policy Gap Analysis  The DoJ&CD commissioned the Foundation for Human Rights through the Socio-Economic Justice for All programme (SEJA) to conduct research on existing South African legislation, policies and programmes that have a direct or indirect impact on the promotion, protection and fulfilment of the rights of persons with disabilities, as provided for in the UNCRPD. Some of the recommendations of the research:  Disability right should be addressed through a disability specific legislation.  The government should constantly update its laws and policies pertaining to disability rights.  The government should establish a specific unit with an exclusive focus on disability rights and address coordination challenges between various stakeholders.  Other recommendations are sector based, such as insurance sector, health sector and education. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 13

14 National Workshop on Disability  Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Commission for Gender Equality, the South African Human Rights Commission, the Foundation for Human Rights and a number of civil society organisations hosted a national workshop on the audit of compliance of legislation against the UNCRPD.  Recommendations were made based on the Commissions discussions in line with the nine thematic areas identified.  The full report of the workshop with recommendations has been circulated. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 14

15 The essence of the discussions undertaken within these Commissions was to:  Engage in dialogue with legal experts, academics and the disability sector to examine existing legislation, policies and programmes that have a direct or indirect impact on the promotion, protection and fulfilment of the rights of persons with disabilities;  Highlight the measures that States and other stakeholders can take with a view to promoting the rights of persons with disabilities through legislation and policies; and  To identify whether there is a need for a stand-alone legislation or cut-across pieces of legislation which amends existing legislation to comply with CRPD; ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 15

16  The DOJCD is currently investigating the efficacy of developing a single, cross cutting statute to give effect to disability rights;  The CSLA has been approached for a legal opinion in this regard;  Consideration will also be given to approaching the SALRC to conduct in-depth research into proposals for the domestication of the UNCRPD. INVESTIGATION INTO THE NEED FOR FURTHER LAW REFORM 16