Human Rights Law Making
Unplugged:
Reflections on the drafting of the CRPD
Janet E. Lord
Burton Blatt Institute, Syracuse University
Harvard Law School Project on Disability
Outline
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Introduction
Origins of CRPD negotiation process
What norms have heft?
Are the States the primary actors?
NGO cohesion and coherency?
When does the door close for NGOs?
Are fringe groups frozen out?
State accountability – is this the key?
Widely Held Assumption
#1
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NGOs are the impetus for human
rights (and humanitarian) law making
– Mine Ban Treaty
– Convention on the Rights of the Child
– Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities
Origins of the Process
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Durban, South Africa World Conference against
Racism Sept. 2001 - Mexican delegation
19 Dec 2001
– GA Res 56/168 introduced by Mexico and
supporters established the Ad Hoc Committee
(AHC)
Mandate of AHC
– "to consider proposals for a comprehensive and
integral international convention to promote and
protect the rights and dignity of persons with
disabilities...”
– Mexican outreach in DC and around world
– Mexican draft treaty & June 2002 meeting in
Mexico City
Assumption #2
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Bodily integrity norms have heft –
those pertaining to violations of
physical integrity will be the most
successful movers in human rights
campaigning
– Social model of disability
– Legal capacity/decision-making
– Education
Assumption #3
 States
actors
are the primary
– This assumes that the outcome of a
treaty drafting process (the adoption of
the text) is all that really matters
– This approach misses the role that other
actors play and the role that norms play
within the process and among the actors
in it.
Actors in CRPD Law
Making Process
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UN member states
UN observers (e.g., Palestine)
Relevant UN bodies and organizations
(ILO, WHO)
Special Rapporteur on Disability
National human rights institutions
Non-governmental organizations
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both ECOSOC and AHC accredited
Educational process/individuals play multiple
roles – “boundary role occupants” (Keith
Krause)
Boundary Role Occupants
And more…
Assumption #4
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The cohesiveness and coherency of
NGO coalitions in a successful human
rights treaty process
– CRPD held up in the emerging literature
as the paradigm of cozy NGO coalition
building
AHC Sessions
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8 sessions total
AHC1 29 July – 9 Aug 2002
– Discussed rationale for convention & survived
attempts to kill the process (NGOs did rally
around a few core ideas successfully in first two
sessions)
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AHC2 16-27 June 2003
– Decision to proceed with drafting convention
– Decision to establish Working Group & its
membership
Working Group
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Struggle over the procedure by which
the Ad Hoc Committee would draft the
treaty text – 2d session
NGO consensus dissolved over who
would represent NGOs on the body
producing the foundational text
– ECOSOC groups versus others
– Geographical representation
– Legitimacy of representation
Final composition of WG
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27 States
12 NGOs
1 national human rights institution (SA
rep.)
Assumption # 5
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The door to NGO participation closes
once the drafting begins
– Working Group modalities – wide open, no
distinction made between WG actors
– Beyond the WG participation continued to a
large extent
– The lead govt in the process relied heavily on
NGOs from the start
– NGOs worked to produce materials that were
immensely useful to States
– NGO advisors moved from NGO to state
delegation
Assumption # 6
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To the extent that NGOs can wield
power in human rights law-making,
they must do so working in coalition
with other groups –marginal groups on
the fringe are left out.
– WNUSP
– Article 15 Torture provision
– Article 17 – Mental and physical integrity
– Article 12 – Legal capacity
Assumption # 7
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State accountability matters most
– Accountability for human rights standard
setting is a matter of scrutinizing State
participation in human rights law making
together with State adoption and
implementation of human rights
standards.
NGO Activities &
Strategies
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Form NGO Caucus; issue position papers; prepare joint
strategy
Lobby govts; place NGO reps on govt delegations
Draft text for govts to introduce; perform legal analysis of
existing text. (Use of wi fi; texting, email blasts)
Issue advocacy newsletters naming and shaming
govts/complimenting govts
Prepare oral and written interventions
Convene side events
Attend receptions for lobbying; coffee in corridors; hand outs
Brief UN Missions prior to mtgs.
Train NGO advocates to participate in effective lobbying
Engage with decision makers back home in capitals
Map of CRPD Ratification
Convention Ratifications/Accessions: 151
Signatories*: 159
Spanish Ratification
Ceremony