Finding the Gaps: A Comparative Analysis of Disability Laws in the U.S. to the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

May 12, 2008

SCOPE AND PURPOSE:

The purpose of this paper is to help the National Council on Disability (NCD), and others, better understand how the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, if ratified by the United States, might impact U.S. disability laws by examining the degree to which U.S. law is consistent with the CRPD. The paper endeavors to analyze the issue in the way a treaty monitoring body would - to see if any area within federal law contravenes the Convention and/or whether there are gaps where legislation or practice might be introduced or reformed to ensure compliance.