This volume studies the implications of the right to inclusive education in human rights law for disability law, policy and practice.

Education is a fundamental human right that is recognised as essential for the attainment of all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. It was not until 2006, on the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), that the right to inclusive education was codified. This volume fills a major gap in the literature on the right of disabled people to education. It examines the theoretical foundations and core content of the right to inclusive education in international human rights law, and explores the various ways of implementing this right through an exploration of legal strategies and mechanisms. With contributions by leaders in the field, this volume advances scholarship on the core content of the right to inclusive education by examining the content and practice of the right at the national, regional and international levels.

In view of the trend of demoting education from "human right" to "human need", this book seeks to affirm education as a "human right" and to describe the various state duties flowing from the right to education, by systematically analyzing article 13 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CPRD) by the United Nations in 2006 is the first comprehensive and binding treaty on the rights of people with disabilities. It establishes the right of people with disabilities to equality, dignity, autonomy, full participation, as well as the right to live in the community, and the right to supported decision-making and inclusive education. Prior to the CRPD, international law had provided only limited protections to people with disabilities. This book analyses the development of disability rights as an international human rights movement. Focusing on the United States and countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East the book examines the status of people with disabilities under international law prior to the adoption of the CPRD, and follows the development of human rights protections through the convention’s drafting process. Arlene Kanter argues that by including both new applications and entirely new approaches to human rights treaty enforcement, the CRPD is significant not only to people with disabilities but also to the general development of international human rights, by offering new human rights protections for all people. Taking a comparative perspective, the book explores how the success of the CRPD in achieving protections depends on the extent to which individual countries enforce domestic laws and policies, and the changing public attitudes towards people with disabilities. This book will be of excellent use and interest to researchers and students of human rights law, discrimination, and disability studies.

Seeks to engage with researchers, students, education professionals, leaders, advocacy organisations, and people experiencing exclusion to consider human rights in relation to inclusive education.

This book examines what international human rights law has gained from the new elements in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It explores how the CRPD is intricately bound up with other international instruments by studying the relationship between the Convention rights and those protected by other human rights treaties, as well as the overall objectives of the UN. Using a social model lens on disability, the book shows how the Convention sheds new light on the very notion of human rights. The book provides a theoretical framework which explicitly integrates disability into international human rights law. It explains how the CRPD challenges the legal subject by drawing attention to distinct forms of embodiment, before introducing the idea of the 'dis-abled subject', which stems from a recognition that all individuals encounter disability-related issues during their lives. The book also shows how to apply this theoretical framework to several rights and highlights the consequences for the implementation of human rights treaties as a whole. It builds upon the literature of disability studies and legal and political theory, as well as drawing upon the recommendations of treaty bodies and reports of UN agencies and disabled people's organisations. This book thereby provides an agenda-setting analysis for all human rights experts, by showing the benefits of placing disabled people at the heart of international human rights law.

Children with disabilities experience ongoing segregation in special education classes or are otherwise excluded from education. This is in spite of the fact that States have a legal obligation to offer an accessible and inclusive education to all learners. Exclusion of any child from education is a violation of international law and a breach of human rights. The provision of inclusive education is an obligation under international law, as well as the means by which to fulfil the additional legal obligation to make education accessible to children with disabilities. Inclusive education is not only an educational system, but an approach and an attitude which addresses the learning needs of all learners and allows for the greatest possible educational opportunities. Inclusive education prevents exclusion and promotes the participation of all children in the educational setting and beyond. This report provides an interpretation and legal analysis of the right to education, and specifically inclusive education, under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (“CRC”) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“CRPD”). The rules of interpretation codified in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties are explained and used in this interpretation process. The report discusses the obligations of State Parties, policy makers, and educational professionals to make inclusive education for all learners a reality. The obligations from the Conventions are clarified through an interpretation of the treaty texts and an examination of the works of the treaty body committees. The report also makes recommendations and conclusions relating to the right to inclusive education found in these legally binding instruments.