Respect right of persons with disabilities to make their own choices | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD)

People with disabilities have the same rights as everyone to make decisions about their lives, including the right to take risks and make mistakes, a United Nations committee has stressed in new guidelines.

Respect for the freedom to make choices should be accorded to all persons with disabilities, no matter how much support they need. People with disabilities, including those with psychosocial or cognitive impairments, must be supported in making decisions, and not have decisions made for them, even when it is thought to be in their ‘best interests.

The Committee noted that while Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities enshrines equal recognition before the law, many such persons are denied legal capacity, often on the basis of mental capacity assessments, and are deprived of fundamental rights such as the right to vote and the right to marry and found a family.

Persons with disabilities face many barriers, and so “it is important that accessibility is addressed in all its complexity, encompassing the physical environment, transportation, information and communication, and services,” it noted.

For more information: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=47623&Cr=disab&Cr1=#.U1fqZ_ldVqN