Include News: Round-up of developments and work being done for inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and their families in Europe.
Council of Europe: Promoting inclusive participation in parliamentary life: gender equality, accessibility and inclusive policies
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe approved a resolution (PDF) calling for better representation, including of people with disabilities.
The Assembly calls on Council of Europe member countries to:
- make both the parliamentary buildings and the work of parliaments fully accessible to persons with disabilities and reduced mobility, including members of parliament, parliamentary staff and visitors.
The Assembly also encourages political parties to:
- assess, and develop a long-term strategy to address the needs of persons from underrepresented groups – such as persons with disabilities and those facing multiple and intersectional discrimination, with a view to facilitating their participation in political life; and organise capacity building trainings, in accessible formats, to enable such participation.
The Assembly invites its political groups to:
- provide training to staff to raise awareness of the needs of members, experts and visitors with disabilities and reduced mobility who participate in Assembly meetings and events.
Ruling: Criminal conviction of an intellectually disabled person based on pre-trial statements made in the absence of a lawyer
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in the case of KRPELÍK v. THE CZECH REPUBLIC:
- “Criminal conviction of an intellectually disabled person based on pre-trial statements made in the absence of a lawyer and interpreted as a waiver of his right to be represented.
- Authorities required to treat the applicant as a vulnerable person on account of his disabilities
- Applicant only informed of his procedural rights by a complex pre-printed form
- Applicant not fully aware of being entitled to legal representation and not reasonably able to appreciate the consequences of being questioned without counsel
- Authorities should have taken additional steps by offering him appropriate forms of assistance
- Waiver not attended by minimum safeguards commensurate with its importance
- Applicant’s right to legal assistance improperly restricted without compelling reasons
- Domestic courts’ failure to assess the applicant’s capacity to make a valid waiver
- Detriment suffered at the pre-trial stage not remedied in the court proceedings
- Unfair trial as a whole”
Spain: Supreme Court rules to protect the right to inclusive education for students with disabilities
“Rubén is a young man with Down syndrome. In 2011, he was expelled from the public school where he studied. He was forced to go to a special education school.”
“Now, the Supreme Court ruled that the State failed to comply with the law and violated his rights. In addition, the State has to pay 25,000 euros to Rubén and his family that they will use to pay for what has cost a very long and expensive judicial process.”
More in a post from Plena inclusion.
Deinstitutionalisation
European Parliament debate: From institution to inclusion: an EU action plan for deinstitutionalisation, family- and community-based care
Report (PDF) from Czech NGO on deinstitutionalisation in the country.
Study session of EEG on use of EU funds for transition from institutions to community-based living.