Commonwealth Numbered Acts

HUMAN RIGHTS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION ACT 1986 No. 125 of 1986 - SCHEDULE 5

                                   SCHEDULE 5                         Section
3 
DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF DISABLED PERSONS
The General Assembly,
Mindful of the pledge made by Member States, under the Charter of the United
Nations; to take joint and separate action in co-operation with the
Organization to promote higher standards of living, full employment and
conditions of economic and social progress and development,
Reaffirming its faith in human rights and fundamental freedoms and in the
principles of peace, of the dignity and worth of the human person and of
social justice proclaimed in the Charter,
Recalling the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
International Covenants on Human Rights, the Declaration of the Rights of the
Child and the Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons, as well
as the standards already set for social progress in the constitutions,
conventions, recommendations and resolutions of the International Labour
Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's
Fund and other organizations concerned.
Recalling also Economic and Social Council resolution 1921 (LVIII) of 6 May
1975 on the prevention of disability and the rehabilitation of disabled
persons,
Emphasizing that the Declaration on Social Progress and Development has
proclaimed the necessity of protecting the rights and assuring the welfare and
rehabilitation of the physically and mentally disadvantaged,
Bearing in mind the necessity of preventing physical and mental disabilities
and of assisting disabled persons to develop their abilities in the most
varied fields of activities and of promoting their intergration as far as
possible in normal life,
Aware that certain countries, at their present stage of development, can
devote only limited efforts to this end,
Proclaims this Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons and calls for
national and international action to ensure that it will be used as a common
basis and frame of reference for the protection of these rights:
1. The term "disabled person" means any person unable to ensure by himself or
herself, wholly or partly, the necessities of a normal individual and/or
social life, as a result of deficiency, either congenital or not, in his or
her physical or mental capabilities.
2. Disabled persons shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration.
These rights shall be granted to all disabled persons without any exception
whatsoever and without distinction or discrimination on the basis of race,
colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or
social origin, state of wealth, birth or any other situation applying either
to the disabled person himself or herself or to his or her family.
3. Disabled persons have the inherent right to respect for their human
dignity. disabled persons, whatever the origin, nature and seriousness of
their handicaps and disabilities, have the same fundamental rights as their
fellow-citizens of the same age, which implies first and foremost the right to
enjoy a decent life, as normal and full as possible.
4. Disabled persons have the same civil and political rights as other human
beings; paragraph 7 of the Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded
Persons applies to any possible limitation or suppression of those rights for
mentally disabled persons.
5. Disabled persons are entitled to the measures designed to enable them to
become as self-reliant as possible.
6. Disabled persons have the right to medical, psychological and functional
treatment, including prosthetic and orthetic appliances, to medical and social
rehabilitation, education, vocational training and rehabilitation, aid,
counselling, placement services and other services which will enable them to
develop their capabilities and skills to the maximum and will hasten the
process of their social integration or reintegration.
7. Disabled persons have the right to economic and social security and to a
decent level of living. They have the right, according to their capabilities,
to secure and retain employment or to engage in a useful, productive and
remunerative occupation and to join trade unions.
8. Disabled persons are entitled to have their special needs taken into
consideration at all stages of economic and social planning.
9. Disabled persons have the right to live with their families or with foster
parents and to participate in all social, creative or recreational activities.
No disabled person shall be subjected, as far as his or her residence is
concerned, to differential treatment other than that required by his or her
condition or by the improvement which he or she may derive therefrom. If the
stay of a disabled person in a specialized establishment is indispensable, the
environment and living conditions therein shall be as close as possible to
those of the normal life of a person of his or her age.
10. Disabled persons shall be protected against all exploitation, all
regulations and all treatment of a discriminatory, abusive or degrading
nature.
11. Disabled persons shall be able to avail themselves of qualified legal aid
when such aid proves indispensable for the protection of their persons and
property. If judicial proceedings are instituted against them, the legal
procedure applied shall take their physical and mental condition fully into
account.
12. Organizations of disabled persons may be usefully consulted in all matters
regarding the rights of disabled persons.
13. Disabled persons, their families and communities shall be fully informed,
by all appropriate means, of the rights contained in this Declaration.