Other resources

 

The following are resources that may be of interest to legal professionals working with persons with disabilities

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Databases

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• DOTCOM: the Disability Online Tool of the Commission
  Database of information about national laws, policies, strategies and initiatives in the Member States of the European Union, its Candidate countries and other associated countries. For each of the 35 ANED member countries, and for the EU, it includes summary information on 44 selected policy instruments, organised in eight themes (more than 1,500 records). Each record includes descriptive text and web links to policy documents or sources of further information at the national level.

• Handbook on European Law relating to access to justice (2016)
  by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). See Section 8.1 Persons with Disabilities.

• "Know Your Rights" by the European Disability Forum (2018) / Available in Easy to Read
  Your rights as a person with disabilities in the European Union (EU): how the EU works, the history and development of rights of persons with disabilities in the EU, and what rights you have under EU law. In a situation where your rights are breached, or you would like some more information, our website provides a list of the agencies that you can reach out to. Finally, it also explains the challenges that remain for persons with disabilities.

• Persons with Disabilities and the European Convention on Human Rights (2019)
  Factsheet of disability court case summaries by the Press Unit of the European Court of Human Right

• Summaries of Mental Disability Cases Decided by the European Court of Human Rights (2007)
  by Validity, formerly known as Mental Disability Advocacy Center

• UNCRPD Library of the Academy of European Law (ERA)

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LGBTI+

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• Oppression Squared - D/deaf and disabled trans experiences in Europe (2018)
  This report is the result of Transgender Europe’s (TGEU) “Expert Meeting on D/deaf and Disabled Trans Experiences,” held in Berlin in July 2017. Following approval of TGEU’s revised strategic plan at the General Assembly in 2016, the organisation committed to advocating for the rights of trans people who face multiple oppressions, including (among others) D/deaf and disabled trans people.

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Promising practices

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• The Advocates Gateway Toolkits
  The Advocate’s Gateway (TAG) provides free access to practical, evidence-based guidance on vulnerable witnesses and defendants. The toolkits include:

  • Planning to question someone with an autism spectrum disorder including Asperger syndrome

  • Planning to question someone with a learning disability

  • Planning to question someone with ‘hidden’ disabilities: specific language impairment, dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia and Planning to question someone using a remote link

  • Identifying vulnerability in witnesses and parties and making adjustments

  • Planning to question someone who is deaf

  • Using communication aids in the criminal justice system

  • Witnesses and defendants with autism: memory and sensory issues​

• AJuPID - Guide of promising practices on legal capacity and access to justice (2015)
  In continuation of the work taking place under the framework of the project “The Access to Justice for people with Intellectual Disabilities” (AJuPID) which is co-funded by the European Union (EU) and coordinated by FEGAPEI, the project partners published the “Guide of promising practices on legal capacity and access to justice”. It is a guide that presents promising examples in Europe concerning support services for persons with intellectual disabilities.

• Dignity at Trial - Enhancing procedural safeguards for suspects with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities Handbook (2018)
  by Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights

• Equal Treatment Bench Book
  by Judicial College

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Police training

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• Video - Research makes police custody more 'autism-friendly' (2019)
  uploaded by the Economic and Social Research Council

• Understanding and identifying disability hate crime
  Online course on Facing Facts Online, an initiative by CEJI - A Jewish contribution to an inclusive Europe

• ​Guide to disabled communities for police
  This publication is part of the above course by CEJI - A Jewish contribution to an inclusive Europe

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Studies and recommendations

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• Accessible Justice - the right to a lawyer and the right to legal aid in Lithuania (2017)​
  by Human Rights Monitoring Institute

• Accessible letters of rights in Europe - Comparative study (2017)
  by Rights International Spain, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Human Rights Monitoring Institute, Fair Trials, and Bulgarian Helsinki Committee

• Mental health and fair trial report (2017)
  ​The report by JUSTICE contains 52 recommendations across the following aspects of the criminal justice process: 

  • The investigative stage

  • Decision as to charge or prosecution

  • Pre-trial and trial hearings

  • Legal capacity tests

  • Disposal and sentencing 

 

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