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CRPD committee
Mandate and work
Legal foundation, Membership,Mandate and Work
The Convention, its Optional Protocol and the States Parties
The
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional
Protocol entered into force on 3 May 2008 with a minimum of 20
ratifications required under article 45 of the Convention, and a State
party becomes bound by the terms of the Convention, thirty days after
its deposit of the instrument of ratification or accession to the UN
Secretary-General.
By the end of April 2013, there were 130 States parties
and 155 States signatories to the Convention. There were 76 States
parties and 91 States signatories to the Optional Protocol.
The Committee
The Mandate of the Committee
In
general terms the Convention deals with the substantive rights of
persons with disabilities, whereas the Optional Protocol allows states
to adhere to the procedure of acceptance of individual communications
and inquiry procedures by the Committee. Therefore, under the
Convention, the Committee is entitled to review reports of States
parties, whereas under the Optional Protocol it is entitled
to accept communications from individuals who allege that their rights
have been violated. In addition under the Optional Protocol
the Committee is also entitled to conduct on site visits to States
parties, in case of reliable information indicating that serious and
systematic violations of human rights of persons with disabilities are or have
occurred in the State party concerned.
Membership Under
article 34 of the Convention, the Committee would have 12 experts at
the time of entry into force of the Convention, and an additional six
members after the deposit of 60 additional ratifications to make 18 members in total.
The initial founding twelve members of the Committee are (those with mandate expiration dates for 2012 indicated in bold):
Ms. Amna Ali Al Suweidi (Qatar) - 31/12/2012 (NOT re-elected)
Mr. Mohammed Al-Tarawneh (Jordan) - 31/12/2012 (re-elected until 2016)
Mr. Lotfi Ben Lallohom (Tunisia) - 31/12/2010 (re-elected until 2014)
Mr. Monsur Ahmed Chowdhuri (Bangladesh) - 31/12/2012 (NOT re-elected)
Ms. María Soledad Cisternas Reyes (Chile) - 31/12/2012 (re-elected until 2016)
Mr. György Könczei (Hungary) - 31/12/2010 (NOT re-elected)
Ms. Edah Wangechi Maina (Kenya) - 31/12/2010 (re-elected until 2014)
Mr. Ronald McCallum AO (Australia) - 31/12/2010 (re-elected until 2014)
Ms. Ana Peláez Narváez (Spain) - 31/12/2012 (re-elected until 2016)
Mr. Germán Xavier Torres Correa (Ecuador) - 31/12/2010 (re-elected until 2014)
Mr. Cveto URŠIČ (Slovenia) - 31/12/2010 (NOT re-elected)
Ms. Jia Yang (China) - 31/12/2012 (NOT re-elected)
During
the elections held on 1 September 2010, at the third Conference of
States parties, the following additional new members were elected with a
mandate starting from 1 January 2011:
Ms. Theresia Degener (Germany), -31/12/2014
Mr. Hyng Shik Kim (Republic of Korea), -31/12/2014
Mr. Carlos Rios Espinosa (Mexico), -31/12/2014
Mr. Gabor Gombos (Hungary), -31/12/2012 (NOT re-elected)
Mr. Damjan Tatic (Serbia), -31/12/2014
Mr. Stig Langvad (Denmark), -31/12/2014
Ms. Silvia Judith Quang Chang (Guatemala), -31/12/2012 (re-elected until 2016)
Ms. Fatiha Hadj Salah (Algeria), -31/12/2012 (NOT re-elected)
At
the same session of the Conference of States parties, the following founding members were re-elected for a further second term of four years
starting on 1 January 2011:
Mr. Lotfi Ben Lallohom (Tunisia) - 31/12/2014
Mr. Germán Xavier Torres Correa (Ecuador) - 31/12/2014
Ms. Edah Wangechi Maina (Kenya) - 31/12/2014
Mr. Ronald McCallum AO (Australia) - 31/12/2014
New elections - September 2012
Re-elected
.Mr. Mohamed Al-Tarawneh (Jordan), -31/12/2016
Ms. Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes (Chile), -31/12/2016
Ms. Ana Pelaez Narvaez (Spain), -31/12/2016
Ms Silvia Judith Wuang Chang (Guatemala), -31/12/2016
Newly elected
Mr. Martin Mwesigwa Babu (Uganda), -31/12/2016
Mr. Monthian Buntan (Thailand), -31/12/2016
Mr. Laszlo Gabor Lovaszly (Hungary), -31/12/2016
Ms. Diane Mulligan (UK), -31/12/2016
Ms. Safak Pavey (Turkey), -31/12/2016
The Work of the Committee
Sessions
The Committee held, by 1 May 2013, 9 sessions and one special inter-session meeting of its working group.
First session (February 2009)
During
the first session held in February 2009, it elected its bureau as
follows: a chair (Mr. Al-Tarawneh), four vice chairs (Ms. Ana Peláez
Narváez, Ms. Jia Yang, Ms. Edah Maina and Mr. Mr. György Könczei) and a
rapporteur (Mr. Ron McCallum), for a term of one year. It also
established three working groups to prepare draft rules of procedure,
working methods and the reporting guidelines.
The inter-session meeting of working groups (June 2009)
During
the inter-session meeting of working groups held in June 2009, the
members of the working groups discussed and adopted preliminary drafts
of the reporting guidelines and the working methods.
Second session (October 2009)
At
the second session held in October 2009, the Committee adopted the text
of the reporting guidelines and proceeded to elect a new bureau of the
Committee for a term of one year in the following composition: Chair,
(Mr. Ron McCallum), vice-chairs (Mr. M. Al-Tarawneh, Ms. Ana Peláez
Narváez and Ms. Jia Yang), rapporteur (Ms. Edah Maina). The Committee
also conducted a day of general discussions on article 12 of the
Convention.
Third session (February 2010)
At
the third session held in February 2010, the Committee adopted its
rules of procedure and the working methods. It also elected a Special
Rapporteur on Communications (Ms. Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes), and a
liaison officer for contacts with other Treaty Bodies, Ms. Amna Ali Al
Suweidi.
The Committee
further established three working groups: to prepare a draft of a
general comment on article 12, to prepare the Day of General Discussions
on Accessibility and to follow up on the situation of persons with
disabilities in situations of natural disaster.
Fourth session (October 2010)
At
the fourth session held in October 2010, the Committee adopted the List
of Issues on the initial report of Tunisia, and organized a Day of
General Discussions on the topic of Accessibility.
Fifth session (April 2011)
At
the fifth session held in April 2011, the Committee held its first ever
constructive dialogue with a State party (Tunisia) and adopted its
first Concluding observations on the initial report of Tunisia. The
Committee also adopted the List of Issues on the initial report of
Spain.
Also at this session, the Committee started to work with 18 members.
Sixth session (September 2011)
At
the sixth session held in September 2011, the Committee held the
constructive dialogue with the delegation of Spain, and adopted the
Concluding observations on the initial report of Spain. The Committee
also adopted the List of Issues on the initial report of Peru.
Seventh session (April 2012)
At
the seventh session held in April 2012, the CRPD adopted the Concluding
observations on the report of Peru and List of Issues on the reports of Argentina, China and Hungary. It also reviewed its first individual
communication ( Sweden).
Eighth session (September 2012)
At the eighth session held in September 2012, the CRPD held a constructive dialogue with delegations of Argentina, China and Hungary and adopted Concluding observations and recommendations on the initial reports of these States. The Committee also adopted the List of Issues on the Initial report of Paraguay. For a resume of the session kindly follow the news link here.
The Committee also reviewed its second individual communication ( UK).
Ninth session (April 2013)
At the 9 th session held in April 2013, the CRPD Committee held a constructive dialogue with the delegation of Paraguay, and adopted Concluding observations and recommendations on the initial report of this State party. The Committee also adopted the List of Issues on the initial reports of Australia, Austria and El Salvador. The Committee also held one Day of General Discussion. The Committee also reviewed its third individual communication (Hungary). For a resume of the session please follow the news link here.
Other Activities
International Day of Persons with Disabilities
The
Committee has actively commemorated the international day of persons
with disabilities on 3 December 2009, launching an international
campaign: “ Let us empower persons with disabilities with the right to
act!”. The campaign involved sending open letters to States parties and
an appeal to persons with disabilities around the world by the Chair of
the Committee.
Initial Reports of States Parties
Under
the terms of the Convention (article 35), States parties are to submit
their initial reports to the Committee, within two years from the date
of entry into force of the Convention for them.
In
May 2010, two years following the entry into force of the Convention
for the initial 20 States parties, the Committee started to receive the
initial reports. As of April 2013, the following States parties had submitted their initial reports: Armenia, Australia, Austria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, China, Chile, Cook Islands,
Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Germany, Hungary, Kenya,
Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and UK.
The Committee has so far reviewed only seven reports ( Tunisia, Spain, Peru, Argentina, China, Hungary and Paraguay). A List of Issues was adopted on the reports of Australia, Austria and El Salvador at the last ninth session of the Committee. See DisabCouncil's shadow report on Paraguay here.
Click here for the supplementary report on Paraguay (jointly prepared by Parigual and DisabCouncil): E; S.
For a full update on the status of reporting to the CRPD Committee, please click here.
Upcoming 10th session (2-13 September 2013)
See DisabCouncil's shadow reports on Australia here, and on El Salvador here.
The CRPD is further planning to hold a meeting with States parties at the 10th session in September 2013.
Days of general discussions
The CRPD Committee has adopted its Rules of Procedure, Reporting guidelines for States Parties, and working methods.
1. Reporting guidelines of the CRPD Committee for States Parties (Download here)
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