I. Obligations

Obligations appear at two levels: article 4 sets out general obligations and each subsequent article sets out obligations in relation to specific rights.

A first question to ask is who is responsible for meeting these commitments? As with all human rights treaties, the Convention places obligations on States. However, several articles also highlight the role of private enterprises in realizing the rights of persons with disabilities. While it is up to States to ensure that private enterprises respect the Convention (i.e., obligations are not placed directly on private enterprises), it is important to acknowledge the role of private enterprises and underline the need to engage this part of society in partnerships to promote disability rights. Other human rights treaties mention the private sector as well and the responsibility of business enterprises in relation to human rights is an area that has attracted considerable attention in recent years. However, the Convention certainly goes further than other treaties in identifying specific areas for action by the private sector. The private sector or private entities/enterprises are mentioned in the articles on: general obligations (art. 4 (1) (e)); accessibility (art. 9 (2) (b)); personal mobility (art. 20 (d)); freedom of expression (art. 21 (c)); health (art. 25 (d)); and work (art. 27 (1) (h)).

In addition to private enterprises, it is possible to identify other actors, beyond States, with responsibilities to respect the rights of persons with disabilities. For example, article 25 refers to health professionals. Several articles refer to support services and community services (for example, art. 12 in relation to support for exercising legal capacity and art. 19 on independent living). Article 24 refers to the employment of qualified teachers to promote inclusive education. So even though the legal responsibility to respect the Convention lies with the State, many other actors have a role to play.

What then are the obligations on States? Here is a summary of these obligations, which are discussed in greater detail in later modules:

There are several ways to present State obligations in relation to human rights treaties. The international human rights system is based on the identification of two broad obligations:

It is increasingly popular to rely on the formula “respect, protect and fulfil” to present obligations on States. This is the formulation proposed to explain obligations here:

It is possible to go back to the general obligations and fit each one into one of these three categories. For example: