DISABILITY RIGHTS IN EUROPE This book is based on a conference organised jointly by the editors to mark the European Year of Disabled People. It explores the range of legal strategies which have been adopted, both nationally and internationally, to achieve equality for disabled people and facilitate their inclusion into mainstream society. It examines current developments in anti-discrimination law, both within Member States and at EU level. It also assesses the effectiveness and potential of the human rights framework for disabled Europeans. In addition, a number of approaches to the enforcement and promotion of disability rights are considered. Contributors to this book, drawn from across Europe, represent a variety of different backgrounds. They include leading academics in the field, as well as campaigners and others working to improve or enforce disabilityrelated legislation. The book is a unique and timely contribution to an important and rapidly expanding field of study. It will be of relevance to all those, whether lawyers or not, with an interest in disability and equality issues.
Disability Rights in Europe From Theory to Practice
Edited by
Anna Lawson University of Leeds
Caroline Gooding Special Adviser to the Disability Rights Commission
OXFORD AND PORTLAND, OREGON 2005
Hart Publishing Oxford and Portland, Oregon Published in North America (US and Canada) by Hart Publishing c/o International Specialized Book Services 5804 NE Hassalo Street Portland, Oregon 97213–3644 USA
© The Editor and Contributors severally 2005 The Editors and Contributors have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, to be identified as the authors of this work. Hart Publishing is a specialist legal publisher based in Oxford, England. To order further copies of this book or to request a list of other publications please write to: Hart Publishing, Salter’s Boatyard, Folly Bridge, Abingdon Road, Oxford OX1 4LB Telephone: +44 (0)1865 245533 or Fax: +44 (0)1865 794882 e-mail:
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Foreword BERT MASSIE*
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HIS BOOK , AND the conference from which it emerges, marks the growing maturity of disability rights. In Britain this is signalled by the unfolding of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and the Human Rights Act 1998; in Europe, by the implementation of the Employment Framework Directive and proposals for a disability-specific directive; and globally, by long overdue progress towards a UN Convention. Disability rights are, of course, not new to me or to many of you. I certainly grew up with an awareness of the need for legal rights for disabled people. Nevertheless, disability rights and the disability dimension of broader equality and human rights are just beginning to gain recognition on statute books and in c