4(C)(v). Right to liberty

The CRPD stipulates that disability status cannot be a criterion in detention decisions,⁴⁸ a provision which is the focus of intense international debate.⁴⁹ The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) has called on States to repeal laws and prohibit the detention of children and adults with disabilities with reference to their disability status. This includes ending involuntary hospitalisation and forced institutionalisation.⁵⁰

48 Article 14 of the CRPD.

49 See, for example, the written comments of the governments of Germany and Denmark to the draft general comment on Article 12 of the CRPD by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2014.

50 UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, General Comment No. 1, 11 April 2014, CRPD/C/GC/1; UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Concluding Observation of the Committee: Azerbaijan, 12 May 2014, CRPD/C/AZE/CO/1.