The Disabled Child's Participation Rights

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the only UN treaty to date in which the people who are its target, that is disabled people, were actively involved in its drafting and the only one which requires the active participation of disabled people in its implementation. This does not, of course, automatically guarantee the direct participation of all disabled people. This is especially so for children with disabilities, whose status as legal minors may inhibit them from participating in decisions affecting their lives. This book focuses on the participation rights of the disabled child with regard to health, education, homelife and relationships, highlighting ways in which these rights are safeguarded and promoted throughout the EU, as well as exploring the factors that put these rights at risk. Finally, this groundbreaking text analyses whether disabled childrena€?s needs for assistance in order to realise their participation rights results in fewer opportunities to participate or in an increase in support in order for them to be able to do so.

Anne-Marie Callus is Lecturer in the Faculty of Laws at the University of Malta, Malta. She is also Executive Director of the National Commission for Persons with Disability in Malta. Ruth Farrugia is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Laws at the University of Malta, Malta. She is a legal consultant to Malta's Commissioner for Children and was was commissioned by the Maltese governement to draft both the gender Equality Act and the Children's Act.