Legal Protections Archive

November 6, 2014

Making Poverty a Human Rights issue for People with Disabilities

This paper argues that the poverty experienced by people with disabilities must be regarded as more than a social policy issue. The fulfillment of true equality and human rights recognition for people with disabilities demands that economic barriers be regarded as equally pernicious as those that impede access. Read more.

May 8, 2012

How the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Might Be Used in Canadian Litigation

This paper examines the intersection between the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“CRPD”) and Canadian litigation. Read more.

April 5, 2012

Accommodation in the 21st Century

July 8, 2010

Canadian Legal Literature Addressing Social and Economic Rights of People with Disabilities: An Annotated Bibliography

CURA team members have created an annotated bibliography which is intended as a resource for academics, students, advocates, and community members interested in the role that law has played—and can play—in remedying poverty experienced by people with disabilities. Read more.

June 30, 2010

How Human Rights Legislation is Dealing with Serious Disabilities that Tend to Result in Social Judgment and Social Exclusion

This report considers whether statutory human rights litigation is serving the needs of persons with permanent, lifelong disabilities who are chronically unemployed, underemployed, and marginalized in Canadian society. Read more.

June 30, 2010

Overview of Complaints under Human Rights Legislation Regarding Access to Services for Persons with Disabilities

The report addresses issues, trends, and obstacles facing complainants in cases involving discrimination in services and accommodation. These cases tend to be critical for persons with disabilities, as they often have far-reaching implications regarding accessibility to, and the inclusivity of, core institutions, facilities, and services (e.g. education, transportation, communication, public buildings, etc.). Read more.

June 30, 2010

An Overview of the Duty To Accommodate and Undue Hardship in Human Rights Jurisprudence

This report highlights the key human rights cases that have contributed to the principle of the duty to accommodate and the defence of undue hardship under human rights legislation. It further assesses how the duty to accommodate has affected the claims of persons with disabilities. Read more.

June 29, 2010

An Overview of the Comparator Group Analysis in Human Rights Jurisprudence

The report addresses a relatively recent trend in Canadian human rights jurisprudence: the importation of the comparator group analysis from the section 15 Charter context into the analytical framework for statutory human rights adjudication. The comparator group analysis, which requires claimants to prove that they have been treated differently than a specific group which mirrors their characteristics save for the alleged ground of discrimination, has been sharply criticized for being antithetical to substantive equality. The details of this argument and the pitfalls of the comparator group analysis are provided elsewhere, and are not the focus of this report. Suffice it to say that this development is particularly troubling for persons with disabilities and other equality-seeking groups who have spent years fighting for judicial recognition that equality is not always achieved by same treatment, but rather often requires that true differences be taken into account and accommodated so as to render society inclusive and accessible. Read more.

June 29, 2010

An Overview of the Human Rights Jurisprudence Underpinning the Test for Prima Facie Discrimination

This report highlights the key human rights cases that have contributed to the current test for establishing prima facie discrimination under human rights legislation. It further assesses how the test for prima facie discrimination has impacted on the rights claims of persons with disabilities. Read more.

June 28, 2010

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

In 50 articles, the CRPD clearly articulates what existing human rights mean within a disability context and establishes reporting and monitoring procedures for States Parties. Read more.