Government human rights focal points: Lessons learned from focal points under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Abstract

The exploration for tools and approaches that will make the UN human rights treaty system more impactful has been ongoing for over thirty years. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities continues to represent the most innovative approach to effecting human rights implementation at the domestic level, through placing obligations on States to designate a Disability Focal Point within government and an Independent Monitoring Mechanism outside of government. This article examines the role of Disability Focal Points and considers in particular how the current drive for the establishment of National Mechanisms for Reporting and Follow-Up may have unintended consequences for their development. The article utilises the United Kingdom as a case-study to assess the potential benefits of allocating responsibility for international reporting and follow-up to a Disability Focal Point. The article finds that the role performed by Disability Focal Points at the domestic level makes them best placed to coordinate reporting and follow-up relating to the CRPD. Furthermore, the fact that Disability Focal Points are fully integrated into domestic national policy mechanisms means that they ought to be well positioned to harness the transformative potential of the treaty body examination process.