News Archive

The CDLP in conjunction with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has commenced a global research project on disability-specific forms of deprivation of liberty, with funding from the UK Department for International Development. This research plans to examine deprivations of liberty operating at three levels: formal (state regulated), informal (community-driven) and in the private sphere. Formal deprivations of liberty will include those regulated and sanctioned by the state (including detention in hospitals and social care homes). Informal deprivations of liberty will include actions undertaken by the community (e.g. prayer camps and shackling). Deprivations of liberty in the private sphere will focus on people deprived of their liberty in the family home or other private settings, in light of the positive duties of the state to prevent arbitrary and discriminatory deprivations of liberty affecting persons with disabilities.