Seanad debates

Tuesday, 29 November 2022

Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Bill 2022: Report Stage

 

1:00 pm

Photo of Frances BlackFrances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Now that Ireland has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities embedding an explicit requirement for courts to interpret, they act in a manner that gives effect to the convention and strengthens the potential for the Act to be interpreted in a manner compatible with Ireland's human rights obligations.

The Act was continually referred to by successive Ministers during its development as being an essential part of Ireland's preparation to ratify the UN convention. Inserting this amendment recognises that best practice in this field is continually evolving and reaffirms Ireland's commitment to refine and reinterpret our law in a manner consistent with our human rights obligations. Introducing this amendment signals Ireland's commitment to a progressive and evolving interpretation of the principal Act in light of emerging understanding of human rights law.

On previous Stages, the Minister opposed this amendment on the grounds that, in his opinion, it is insufficiently clear for inclusion in primary legislation and that the UNCRPD sets general principles which must be then translated into more specific obligations. The Minister also objected to the inclusion of reference to "General Comment 1" as it is not drafted as a statutory provision. While I do not dispute any of these points, it is precisely because the UNCRPD and "General Comment 1" set out the requirements for states regarding the rights of persons with disabilities that reference should be included to them as framing the guiding principles of the principal Act, as has been repeated by Governments so many times over the years during the passage of both the 2015 Act and this amending legislation.

The goal of this law is to meet Ireland's obligations under the UNCRPD, in particular, Article 12. It is, therefore, entirely appropriate to have the requirements of both the human rights treaty and this specific provision, and its interpretation of the UNCRPD committee, as interpretative rules for the Act's guiding principles. I, therefore, urge the Minister to reconsider his position on this point. I hope he will accept the amendment.

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