NUI Galway to host world’s largest disability law summer school

Galway is set to host the world’s largest Disability Law Summer School next week.

Over 200 delegates from over 50 countries have registered to take part in the ninth Summer School hosted by NUI Galway’s Centre for Disability Law and Policy, which will be themed around “Psychosocial Disability”.

The five-day event aims to equip participants with the insights and skills to translate the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities into tangible reform for disabled people worldwide.

This year, it will be addressed by users and survivors of psychiatry who have experienced mental health problems, or have used or survived mental health services and are to the fore advocating for the recognition of the legal capacity of persons with psychosocial disability.

Dainius Pūras, UN special rapporteur on health, and Catalina Devandas Aguilar, UN special rapporteur on disability, will deliver keynote addresses during the event.

Dr Charles O’Mahony, head of NUI Galway’s School of Law, said: “Ireland was one of the first countries to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007. Ten years later Ireland remains the only Member State of the European Union not to have ratified the Convention.

“The failure to ratify the CRPD calls into question the commitment of successive Irish Governments to recognise the rights of persons with disabilities and means that Ireland and is an outlier amongst the international community in this area.

“The theme of the Summer School is on realising the rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities. Persons with psychosocial disabilities encounter many barriers to exercising their civil and political and economic, social and cultural rights. Their rights are often ignored in the mainstream human rights discourse.

“As such the Summer School is important to highlight the challenges and opportunities in achieving full and equal enjoyment of the human rights that are often taken for granted, such as the right to live in the community, make decisions and refuse medical treatment.”