Optional Protocol to the Convention on Persons with Disabilities to come into force in Ireland on 30 November 2024

Roderic O’Gorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and Anne Rabbitte, Minister of State for Disability, have announced that the formal process for accession has now been completed and the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD will come into effect in Ireland on 30 November 2024.

This means that from 30 November, people in Ireland will be able to rely on the “communication procedure” in the Protocol to bring to the UN Committee’s attention alleged breaches of rights under the Convention, usually on the condition that all domestic remedies have been exhausted.

Following the government decision to accede to the Protocol, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs signed an instrument of accession on behalf of the government which was deposited with the UN Office of Legal Affairs in New York on 31 October 2024. The Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD will enter into force with respect to the State on the thirtieth day after the instrument was deposited. The Optional Protocol will therefore take effect on 30 November 2024.

The Optional Protocol supplements the Convention by establishing additional procedures aimed at strengthening the implementation of the Convention. In this regard it establishes the competence of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a body of independent experts, to:

• receive and examine communications from or on behalf of individuals or groups of individuals who claim to be victims of a violation of the rights recognised and protected by the Convention
• undertake inquiries in cases where they receive reliable evidence of grave or systemic violations of the Convention

Speaking about Ireland’s formal accession to the Optional Protocol Minister O’Gorman said:

Minister of State for Disabilities Anne Rabbitte added:

Accession to the Optional Protocol demonstrates Ireland’s commitment to the continued and progressive realisation of the rights and obligations set out in the Convention. It is an important milestone in Ireland’s journey toward a society in which everyone is valued equally and no one is left behind.

Information on utilising the communications procedure to bring an issue to the UNCRPD Committee’s attention is available through the portal on the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner website, by email to petitions@ohchr.org or by post to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.

Communications are considered based on admissibility criteria, including the general requirement to have exhausted all domestic remedies prior to bringing an issue to the UN Committee. The communication procedure cannot be used for breaches of rights that occurred prior to accession to the Protocol. Where the Committee finds a breach of rights has occurred, it will issue recommendations to the state on how the situation can be rectified.

Accession to the Protocol forms part of Ireland’s broader approach to compliance with the Convention. In that regard intensive work is ongoing across Government to develop Ireland’s next National Disability Strategy, which will form the implementation plan to advance delivery of the rights as set out in the Convention over the coming years.

Accession to the Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a commitment in the Programme for Government. Government made the decision on 8 October 2024 to accede to the Optional Protocol, which will come into force in the State on 30 November 2024.

The purpose of the UN Convention is to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.

The Optional Protocol supplements the Convention, and establishes additional procedures aimed at strengthening the implementation of the Convention. It establishes the competence of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a body of independent experts, to:

• receive and examine communications from or on behalf of individuals or groups of individuals who claim to be victims of a violation of the rights recognised and protected by the Convention
• undertake inquiries in cases where they receive reliable evidence of grave or systemic violations of the Convention

While the Optional Protocol does not establish any further rights beyond the scope of the original Convention, it does establish a procedure through which persons can submit a communication to the UN Committee regarding any violation of the rights established under the Convention. The Optional Protocol therefore acts as an important mechanism for implementation of the Convention.

Persons with disabilities can make a complaint to the Committee under the communication procedure. The Committee receives communications in the form of written submissions (either online or by post) from or on behalf of individuals and assesses such communications to establish their admissibility and their merits. Should the Committee deem a communication to be admissible it will examine the complaint and may ultimately make recommendations as to how the State should rectify the issue in question.

In line with the constitutional and legal position on international agreements, these recommendations are domestically legally non-binding on the state but are in practice persuasive. The Committee typically convenes twice a year in order to examine these communications.

Complainants must generally exhaust all domestic remedies in order for the Committee to deem a communication admissible, and one of the advantages of accession to the Protocol is in ensuring that appropriate domestic redress exists for breaches of rights. This means that domestic avenues through which a solution may be found such as judicial proceedings, appeals of lower court decisions, judicial reviews and potentially other enforceable administrative remedies, must be exhausted prior to any complaint being made to the Committee. The Committee may, in rare cases, decide that the exhaustion of domestic remedies is not necessary such as where the application of the remedies is unreasonably prolonged or considered to be futile.

A communication can be judged inadmissible for a number of reasons such as being anonymous, being examined by another international body at the time of consideration by the Committee, or if the events described in the communication occurred prior to ratification of the Protocol. A communication may also be deemed inadmissible if it is anonymous, or is incompatible with the provisions of the Convention.

For more information on the communication procedure as well as a complaint submission form please visit: the OHCHR website.

In the event that an Irish case is to be examined by the UN Committee, the Committee will contact Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs for official observations regarding the content of the communication. The State is then given six months to provide a response to the contents of the case. Once the relevant department has responded, the communicant will be provided with these observations and will be allowed to respond in turn. Outside of these comments the State has no role in the examination process, the UN Committee will dictate the timeline and progress of all communications.

Communications/complaints can be submitted to the UN Committee through the portal on the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner website, by email to petitions@ohchr.org or by post to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva.