In this guest article, Jim Winters, Advocacy and Rights Officer with Inclusion Ireland gives a snapshot of the organisation’s work in influencing legislative and policy reform as it relates to the rights of persons with a disability.
Established in 1961, Inclusion Ireland is the national organisation for people with an intellectual disability in Ireland. In addition to its main activities of information, support and capacity building, Inclusion Ireland provides a central forum for its members to identify and formulate agreed policies to present to government and others.
Much of Inclusion Ireland’s current policy work began many, many years ago. For example, it has taken 20 years of campaigning to have residential services for people disability regulated and inspected by the State (inspections started in 2014). Now, for the first time, people with a disability and their families can expect higher standards of care and support.
Other areas of importance to Inclusion Ireland and its broad membership include the closure of residential institutions (called congregated settings), how services are funded and provided to people with a disability, inclusive education for children with a disability, access to justice, social protection, housing and education.
Inclusion Ireland also works to influence the law as it relates to people with an intellectual disability. We initiated a campaign to repeal the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act, 1871 and abolish the archaic wards of court system. As many of you will know, wardship is the legal substitute decision making mechanism. When an adult is made a ward of court (lunatic) he or she loses the right make decisions about their own lives. For Inclusion Ireland, people with an intellectual disability have the right to support to make decisions, and to have those decisions recognised in law.
The introduction, last year, of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Bill, 2013 is a welcome development in this regard. This proposes a legal framework for supported decision making. However, people with a disability and their organisations are concerned that the law proposes that substitute decision making will remain in certain circumstances. The law also provides for a range of decision making mechanisms. Ireland now has a unique opportunity to introduce a modern legal framework for supported decision making. One that accords with human rights standards, and can serve as a reference point for other States to follow.
Another area of law that Inclusion Ireland has sought to change is that which relates to sexual violence against people with an intellectual disability. Under the provisions of the Sexual Offences Act, 1993, two consenting adults with an intellectual disability could be charged with a criminal offense (this is due to the broad meaning of ‘mentally impaired’ in the Act). On the other hand, the Act does not go far enough to protect victims of sexual violence. Under the Act, victims of sexual violence are not required to give evidence in court. However, sexual violence that falls short of sexual intercourse or buggery, such as oral rape, is not an offense under the law. This means that capacity of victims with an intellectual disability to testify has been challenged. Cases have been thrown out as a result.
Inclusion Ireland has called for laws that protect and promote the right of people with an intellectual disability to have sexual relations. We also want laws that protect people from sexual abuse and violence. Such laws should not be above the competencies of legislators. We first set out our views on this over a decade ago (Inclusion Ireland, Who Decides and How?, 2003).
We welcome the recent commitment of the Department of Justice to look at amending the Act. We hope this takes place as part of a wider review by the Department of Justice of other laws that discriminate against, or restrict the rights of, people with a disability.
Like a great many other voluntary organisations with limited resources, Inclusion Ireland often relies on the goodwill of others to support its work. In this regard, we are particularly grateful for the expertise and opinion provided by the legal professionals on the PILA pro bono register. We have used this facility regularly over the past year two years. For example, a PILA working group on legal capacity made possible our analysis of the aforementioned Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Bill 2013. We have also benefitted from legal opinion on issues including the regulation and inspection of services, in-patient charges, voting rights and sexual offences.
Finally, a word on international law and its relevance to people with a disability. Inclusion Ireland uses the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as the reference point for its work. The CPRD is the first international human rights treaty of the twenty-first century. It brings together, for the first time, all of the human rights and fundamental freedoms contained in other international treaties and conventions. It reaffirms, unequivocally, that disability is a human rights issue.
At the heart of the Convention is the right of people with a disability to be actively involved in decisions which after them. Although Ireland signed the CRPD in 2007, we are only three EU Member States yet to ratify the treaty. Inclusion Ireland continues to call for ratification as soon as possible and for active and meaningful participation of people with a disability and their organisations in any preparations for ratification.
Inclusion Ireland is the national organisation for people with an intellectual disability. Find out more about their work by visiting www.inclusionireland.ie