The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and mental health law

Abstract

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is an international treatise about human rights that was adopted by the United Nations in 2006. Although it is a welcome articulation of the rights of persons with disabilities, a detailed review of the text detects some insufficiencies and challenges, especially when analyzed in light of people with mental illness. This paper aims at revising critically the text of the Convention in order to detect such troubles. It would allow us a better understanding of the text if we really want to protect and defend rights of persons with disabilities. Thus, in this paper the author will revise concepts used by the Committee and the Convention such as “disability,” “legal capacity” and “mental capacity,” “discrimination.” Moreover, according to the concept of “safeguards,” this paper will introduce psychiatric advance directives and shared decision-making as two tools in order to defend persons with mental illness. Both preserve the background of the Convention, such as respect for the dignity and autonomy, provide care without discrimination, and encourage rehabilitation, which implies a better quality of life.

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