Showing papers on "International human rights law published in 2018"

The Use of Armed Force in Occupied Territory

Abstract: This book explores the international law framework governing the use of armed force in occupied territory through a rigorous analysis of the interplay between jus ad bellum, international humanitarian law, and international human rights law. Through an examination of state practice and opinio juris, treaty provisions and relevant international and domestic case law, this book offers the first comprehensive study on this topic. This book will be relevant to scholars, practitioners, legal advisors, and students across a range of sub-disciplines of international law, as well as in peace and conflict studies, international relations, and political science. This study will influence the way in which States use armed force in occupied territory, offering guidance and support in litigations before domestic and international courts and tribunals.

Civil rights as determinants of public health and racial and ethnic health equity: Health care, education, employment, and housing in the United States.

Abstract: This essay examines how civil rights and their implementation have affected and continue to affect the health of racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. Civil rights are characterized as social determinants of health. A brief review of US history indicates that, particularly for Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians, the longstanding lack of civil rights is linked with persistent health inequities. Civil rights history since 1950 is explored in four domains-health care, education, employment, and housing. The first three domains show substantial benefits when civil rights are enforced. Discrimination and segregation in housing persist because anti-discrimination civil rights laws have not been well enforced. Enforcement is an essential component for the success of civil rights law. Civil rights and their enforcement may be considered a powerful arena for public health theorizing, research, policy, and action.

Beyond Human Rights: The Legal Status of the Individual in International Law

Abstract: A paradigm change is occurring, in the course of which human beings are becoming the primary international legal persons. In numerous areas of public international law, substantive rights and obligations of individuals arguably flow directly from international law. The novel legal status of humans in international law is now captured with a concept borrowed from constitutional doctrine: international rights of the person, as opposed to international law protecting persons. Combining doctrinal analysis with current practice, this book is the most comprehensive contemporary analysis of the legal status of the individual. Beyond Human Rights, previously published in German and now revised by the author in this English edition, not only deals with the individual in international humanitarian law, international criminal law and international investment law, but it also covers fields such as consular law, environmental law, protection of individuals against acts of violence and natural disasters, refugee law and labour law.

Human Rights as Men’s Rights

Abstract: The structure and institutions of the international legal order set up under the United Nations reflect and ensure the continued dominance of a male perspective. Many generally applicable international human rights principles are inherently biased against women. An important aspect of international human rights law is that, like many national legal systems, it operates primarily in the public sphere, that is, within the world of government, politics, economics, and the workplace, areas traditionally associated with men. The traditional construction of civil and political rights, then, obscures the most consistent harms done to women. It might be thought that "second" generation rights—economic, social, and cultural rights—by their nature transcend the dichotomy between public and private spheres of life and thus offer more to women's lives. The theoretical and practical development of third generation rights has, in fact, delivered very little to women.

Frontier cities : The rise of local authorities as an opportunity for international human rights law

Abstract: The growing influence and self-confidence of local authorities count among the most interesting recent phenomena in global governance. While not entirely oblivious, international law as a field has struggled to get ahead of this dynamic, focusing instead on how to integrate local authorities into static conventional frameworks firmly based on the notion of state sovereignty. However, as a discussion of the global state of affairs and a focus on human rights cities shows, local actors increasingly claim and obtain a key role in the realization of international law. Additionally, they hold important potential to address some of the most pressing challenges to international human rights law concerning its efficacy and legitimacy. This article therefore calls for a proactive approach to the study of local authorities that considers local authorities as a ‘new frontier’ in international law generally and in human rights law specifically. It proposes a critical research agenda for this purpose that could produce important new insights into (i) the continued relevance and legitimacy of human rights as a discourse of governance; (ii) the bearing of domestic constitutional arrangements on the implementation of human rights law and (iii) questions of, and possible shifts in, legal subjecthood in the contexts of ‘state failure’.

Business and human rights: towards greater responsibility of business enterprises and access to remedies in a legally binding treaty?

Abstract: The thesis examines key issues relating to the responsibility of business entities and access to justice for victims of business-related human rights violations, to suggest measures and proposals to be incorporated in a prospective legally binding treaty on business and human rights, whose negotiation and drafting is in progress under the aegis of the UN Human Rights Council. Under the terms of Human Rights Council Resolution 26/9, an Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group was mandated to elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises. After recalling the historical background (Chapter 1) and the process leading to the adoption of Resolution 26/9 (Chapter 2), the thesis analyses the outstanding issues regarding the responsibility of business enterprises and whether corporations may potentially be considered as duty-bearers in the prospective binding treaty (Chapter 3). The thesis turns to the question about how to overcome existing barriers and improve access to justice and judicial remedies for victims of business-related human rights abuses (Chapter 4). The thesis concludes with measures and models of reference to be considered in the prospective treaty, to close the so called “accountability and governance” gaps.

Human Rights in Armed Conflict: Law, Practice, Policy

Abstract: Introduction Part I. Human Rights in Armed Conflict: History of an Idea: 1. From mediaeval sources to modernity 2. The science of warfare and the progress of civilization 3. 1945: whither war? 4. Human rights in armed conflict Part II. Human Rights and Humanitarian Law: Theory: 5. Exclusivity: the misconceived idea of lex specialis 6. Complementarity: maximizing protection 7. Integration: the transformative influence of human rights Part III. Human Rights and Humanitarian Law: Challenges and Commonalities: 8. The right to life: the limits of human rights in armed conflict? 9. The extraterritorial application of human rights: functional universality 10. War as emergency: derogation 11. Human rights and humanitarian obligations 12. Operationalising human rights in armed conflict Part IV. The Dynamics of War and Law: 13. The changing character of war 14. Governing internal armed violence 15. Human rights in situations of occupation 16. Context: the humanization of international law Part V. Enforcement: Practice and Potential: 17. United Nations Human Rights Council: monitoring armed conflicts 18. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights 19. United Nations human rights treaty bodies 20. The Inter-American human rights system 21. The European Court of Human Rights 22. The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights 23. Monitoring and litigating humanitarian rights: prospects Conclusion.

Human Trafficking and Slavery Reconsidered : Conceptual Limits and States' Positive Obligations in European Law

Abstract: The support for the fight against ‘human trafficking’ has evolved rapidly and comprehensively There has been, however, no overarching critical evaluation of the efforts to make ‘human trafficking’ a focus of international law The study addresses this gap and questions the usefulness of the international law definition of human trafficking and the legal framework built around this definition It shows how by moving to the concept of human trafficking, the international community side-lined the older and more established human rights law concepts of slavery, servitude and forced labour, a development urgently requiring rectification I propose two steps to reverse these negative developments The first is to address the terminological confusion and the definitional indeterminacy that surround the concepts of human trafficking, slavery, servitude and forced labour in international law In relation to this, the study shows that the concept of human trafficking is ineffective Thus the study seeks to place renewed emphasis on the human rights law concepts of slavery, servitude or forced labour and to determine their definitional scopes The second step implies clearer understanding of states’ positive human rights obligations flowing from the human trafficking and the human rights legal frameworks In this regard, the study demonstrates the values and the limitations of both frameworks, while at the same time maintaining that the way forward is to work within the human rights system These objectives are addressed from the perspective of European law with focus on the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Human Trafficking and Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights The relevant EU law is also considered (Less)

In the Shadow of the International Criminal Court: Does the ICC Deter Human Rights Violations?

Abstract: The International Criminal Court (ICC) is responsible for prosecuting crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. Despite the potential for the ICC to deter human rights abuses, scholars and...

Human Rights on Trial: A Genealogy of the Critique of Human Rights

Abstract: The first systematic analysis of the arguments made against human rights from the French Revolution to the present day. Through the writings of Edmund Burke, Jeremy Bentham, Auguste Comte, Louis de Bonald, Joseph de Maistre, Karl Marx, Carl Schmitt and Hannah Arendt, the authors explore the divergences and convergences between these 'classical' arguments against human rights and the contemporary critiques made both in Anglo-American and French political philosophy. Human Rights on Trial is unique in its marriage of history of ideas with normative theory, and its integration of British/North American and continental debates on human rights. It offers a powerful rebuttal of the dominant belief in a sharp division between human rights today and the rights of man proclaimed at the end of the eighteenth century. It also offers a strong framework for a democratic defence of human rights.

Fulfilling Social and Economic Rights

Abstract: International human rights law requires that governments around the world do their best to provide a minimal standard of living for all of their citizens. In this book, which won the 2015–2016 Best...

Children’s rights and digital technologies

Abstract: Digital technologies have reshaped children’s lives, resulting in new opportunities for and risks to their well-being and rights. This chapter investigates the impact of digital technologies on children’s rights through the lens of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Up until now, not all rights have received the same level of attention in the digital context. Legal and policy discourse in the area of children and digital media predominantly focuses on ‘protection’ rights, albeit with a growing awareness of the tension between ‘protection’ and ‘participation’ rights. ‘Provision’ rights are not often emphasised, other than in the important domain of education. However, all children’s rights should be supported, valued and developed in both online and offline spheres of engagement. Governments, parents, educators, industry, civil society and children’s rights commissioners or ombudspersons should all take up their responsibility to enhance children’s rights in relation to digital technologies, while actively listening and taking account of children’s views when developing laws, policies, programmes and other measures in this field.

Making Migration Law: The Foreigner, Sovereignty, and the Case of Australia

Abstract: The emergence of international human rights law and the end of the White Australia immigration policy were events of great historical moment. Yet, they were not harbingers of a new dawn in migration law. This book argues that this is because migration law in Australia is best understood as part of a longer jurisprudential tradition in which certain political-economic interests have shaped the relationship between the foreigner and the sovereign. Eve Lester explores how this relationship has been wrought by a political-economic desire to regulate race and labour; a desire that has produced the claim that there exists an absolute sovereign right to exclude or condition the entry and stay of foreigners. Lester calls this putative right a discourse of 'absolute sovereignty'. She argues that 'absolute sovereignty' talk continues to be a driver of migration lawmaking, shaping the foreigner-sovereign relation and making thinkable some of the world's harshest asylum policies.

Human rights and youth justice reform in England and Wales: A systemic analysis

Abstract: This article examines critically the persistently antagonistic relationship – across the past quarter-century – between the provisions of international human rights instruments and the nature and direction of youth justice reform in England and Wales. It introduces the core provisions of the human rights framework that pertain to youth justice and it sketches the nature and direction of policy reform over the 25-year period under scrutiny (1991–2016). To obtain a comprehensive sense of the relationship between human rights and youth justice reform in the jurisdiction, it applies a detailed systemic analysis; beginning at the point at which criminal responsibility is formally imputed and progressing through each stage of the youth justice system, up to the point where the child might ultimately be deprived of her/his liberty. By taking a ‘long-view’ of youth justice reform and by adopting a systemic end-to-end analysis of the human rights–youth justice interface, the article presents an analytical account of both change (policy reforms) and continuity (the enduring nature of human rights violations).

Unaccompanied Children at the United States Border, a Human Rights Crisis that can be Addressed with Policy Change

Abstract: In recent years, unaccompanied minors have been journeying to the United States (U.S.)–Mexico border in great numbers in order to escape violence, poverty and exploitation in their home countries. Yet, unaccompanied children attempting to cross the United States border face treatment at the hands of government representatives which violates their inherent rights as children. The result is a human rights crisis that has severe health consequences for the children. Their rights as children are clearly delineated in various, international human rights documents which merit increased understanding of and recognition by the U.S. government. This paper calls for the improvement of policies and procedures for addressing the rights of unaccompanied immigrant children; it provides specific, rights-based recommendations which work together to safeguard the rights of the child at the U.S. southwestern border.

Achieving the 1.5 °C objective: just implementation through a right to (sustainable) development approach

Abstract: Achieving the 1.5 °C objective of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in a just manner requires equitably sharing the responsibilities and rights that relate to this objective. This paper examines how international law concerning the Right to Promote (Sustainable) Development can contribute to determining what would be a “just” approach to achieving the 1.5 °C objective. This entails building on both the Right to Development (RtD) and the Right to Promote Sustainable Development (RtPSD). The RtD is a central notion within international human rights law and the RtPSD has been adopted under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Based on a literature review and legal analysis, we argue that, although the two Rights are prima facie different, in the context of the unanimously adopted Agenda 2030, including the SDGs, they partly complement and partly merge with each other. Together they provide a framework for assessing how a just transition towards a low greenhouse gas development process could be achieved and what this means for phasing out fossil fuels especially in the context of prospective oil producing countries.

Can human rights conditionality reduce repression? Examining the European Union’s economic agreements

Abstract: The insertion of human rights commitments into international economic agreements is now a widespread practice. We argue that the effect of such commitments depends on the degree of leverage held by one partner over the other. In a comprehensive analysis of the European Union’s (EU’s) relations with developing countries, we find that human rights clauses are conditionally effective; they are associated with improved political freedom and physical integrity rights only in countries that are more heavily dependent on EU aid. An in-depth look at the EU’s enforcement of its human rights clause in the African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) group reveals that the Union most often responds to violations of political rights—particularly coups and flawed elections—and that enforcement is indeed a more powerful catalyst for change in highly aid-dependent states. Alternative explanations—that the impact of the human rights clause depends on legalization, the country’s strategic importance, NGO activity, or domestic institutions—find little support.

Democratising land control: towards rights, reform and restitution in post-conflict Colombia

Abstract: Colombia’s contentious agrarian dynamics have been at the centre of both the armed conflict and peace process. This article reveals the discrepancies between land-tenure legislation and actual outcomes. While the peace agreements offer new opportunities for democratic land control, new institutions may end up reinforcing existing power relations. This article argues that linking land rights with human rights can be a powerful strategy for rural social justice and accountability. As the struggle for democratic land control moves from armed conflict to the political arena, mobilising from below will be a decisive factor as to whether rights, reform and restitution become a reality in post-conflict Colombia.

Human rights or social justice? The problem of rights inflation

Abstract: This article debates a paradox in politics, law and social practice: Whereas human rights has become an effective strategy for framing grievances, the increasing appropriation of rights-talk to frame any and all grievances is undermining attempts to successfully address systemic social problems. I argue that issues such as poverty should be framed as social justice rather than human rights. In an attempt to further develop a sociology of human rights, I explore how framing a grievance as a human right shapes the way people understand both the problem and the solution, and the limits to framing social problems as rights violations. Canadians, in particular, typify a broader global experience of increasingly asserting rights-claims in everyday life, from the environment to bullying at school.

Identity and its protection as the aim and purpose of international human rights law: The case of (inter)sex identity and its protection

Abstract: ................................................................................................................................... I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................. III TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................. IV TABLES OF CONVENTIONS AND CASES ..................................................................................... VIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................................. X INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 INTERSEX PEOPLE THROUGH HISTORY .................................................................................................... 3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TOPIC ................................................................................................................ 8 INTERSEX AND THE WORLD OF SEX DIVERSITY ......................................................................................... 9 METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................................................. 11 THESIS STRUCTURE .......................................................................................................................... 14 CHAPTER 1: NARRATIVITY AND THE BECOMING OF (INTER)SEX ................................................ 17 1.1 BECOMING A REVEALED NOT A DETERMINATIVE FIXED IDENTITY .................................................... 21 1.2 NARRATIVITY OF BECOMING ..................................................................................................... 24 1.3 HORIZONS OF NARRATIVE BECOMING ........................................................................................ 29 1.3.1 Situating One’s Horizon – Vertical or Horizontal ..................................................... 32 1.3.2 The Vertical Horizon................................................................................................. 34 1.3.3 Horizontal Horizon ................................................................................................... 49 1.3.4 Horizons of Becoming .............................................................................................. 60 1.4 TWO BECOMINGS OF (INTER)SEX .............................................................................................. 61 1.4.1 Sex Horizons and Culture ....................................................................................... 63 1.4.2 Diversity of (Inter)Sex Becoming .............................................................................. 66 1.4.3 The Becoming of a Linear Sex (Status) as Male or Female ...................................... 75 1.5 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 84 CHAPTER 2: MOVING FROM PERSONAL TO MORAL IDENTITY .................................................. 89 2.1 PROBLEMATIC OF IDENTITY ...................................................................................................... 92 2.1.1 Two Identities – Idem and Ipse Identities ................................................................ 92 2.1.2 The Problematic: Identicality Replacing Mediatory Identity ..................................101 2.1.3 Vulnerability and the Problematic of Identity ........................................................103 2.2 CAPABILITIES AND THE PARADOX OF AUTONOMY .......................................................................104 2.2.1 Capable Being ........................................................................................................105

Does teaching children about human rights, encourage them to practice, protect and promote the rights of others?

Abstract: The purpose of the article is to demonstrate how the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Rights Respecting Schools Award makes positive contributions to children’s lives and experiences at school. Within the overall context of education as a right, the Award supports children to learn about their rights and the rights of others. By learning through a rights-based framework, children experience a rights-based approach to education and start to become active rights thinkers and rights holders. This article presents findings regarding the lived experiences of children participating in a rights education programme from a primary school in England. The results are consistent with previous rights education research and confirm that teaching and supporting the human rights of children to children, through a rights education programme, encourages children to practice, protect and promote the rights of others within their school.

A Farewell to Fragmentation: Reassertion and Convergence in International Law

Abstract: 1. From fragmentation to convergence Mads Andenas and Eirik Bjorge Part I. Reassertion and Convergence: 'Proliferation' of Courts and the Centre of International Law Section 1. At the Centre: The International Court: 2. Unity and diversity in international law Christopher Greenwood 3. A century of international justice and prospects for the future Antonio Augusto Cancado Trindade 4. The International Court of Justice and human rights treaty bodies Nigel Rodley 5. The ICJ and the challenges of human rights law Vera Gowlland-Debbas 6. Factors influencing fragmentation and convergence in international courts Philippa Webb Section 2. 'Regimes' of International Law: 7. Fragmentation or partnership? The reception of ICJ case-law by the European Court of Human Rights Dean Spielmann 8. Factors influencing the reception of international law in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights Magdalena Forowicz 9. The influence of the ICJ on the modern doctrine of provisional measures before international courts and tribunals: a 'uniform' approach Cameron Miles 10. Just another case of treaty interpretation? Reconciling humanitarian and human rights law in the ICJ Lawrence Hill-Cawthorne 11. The European Union's participation in international economic institutions: a mutually beneficial reassertion of the centre Emanuel Castellarin 12. Reinforcing the ICJ's central international role - domestic courts' treatment of ICJ decisions and opinions Veronika Fikfak Part II. A Farewell to Fragmentation and the Sources of International Law Section 1. Custom Jus Cogens: 13. The International Court of Justice and the international customary law game of cards Lorenzo Gradoni 14. State practice, treaty practice and state immunity Alexander Orakhelashvili 15. Historical sketches of custom in international law Jean-Louis Halperin Section 2. Treaty Interpretation: 16. Is there a subject-matter ontology in interpretation of international legal norms? Robert Kolb 17. Halfway between fragmentation and convergence: the role of the rules of the organization in the interpretation of constituent treaties Paolo Palchetti 18. The convergence of the methods of treaty interpretation Eirik Bjorge 19. The centre reasserting itself Mads Andenas.

The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights: mapping resistance against a young court

Abstract: At first glance, it appears that the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights – the first pan-continental court of the African Union (AU) for human rights protection – epitomises the advances made by international courts in Africa in the past decade. Since its first judgment in 2009, the Court has taken a robust approach to its mandate and its docket is growing apace. However, a closer look at the overall context in which the Court operates reveals that it is susceptible to many of the patterns of resistance that have hampered other international courts in the region, which cut across the development of its authority and impact. This paper analyses the forms and patterns of resistance against the African Court and the actors involved, emphasising the additional difficulties entailed in mapping resistance to a young court compared to long-established courts, such as the European and Inter-American human rights courts.

An Analysis of the Adequacy of Protection Afforded by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in Situations of Armed Conflict

Abstract: This essay aims to describe the contrasting approaches to disability described by international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL) with the aim of pointing out the approaches/models of disability underpinning two legal regimes. The limits of those approaches/models in the treatment and protection of persons with disabilities shall be investigated and established. Ultimately, the paper considers the possibility of recommending a unified approach/model that should underpin both IHL and IHRL in addressing aspects of disability.

Assuring children's human right to freedom of opinion and expression in education.

Abstract: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights elaborated for children through the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, mandates each child's right to participate in all matters affecting them. In particular, Article 19 includes the child's right to freedom of expression and opinion, access to information and communication choice. However, many barriers placed on children's daily lives often restrict or limit the enactment of children's participatory rights in practice, most noticeably in education. It is often the adult who decides what, when and how children can communicate, and the extent children's views and opinions are sought, considered or incorporated. This paper explores how children's daily lives are mediated in ways that restrict their expression, voice and communication rights. Children spend a significant proportion of their daily lives in education settings yet the restrictions on children's access to information and communication choices do not reflect contemporary pedagogical thinking. Many school settings perpetuate the key participation barriers of adult attitude and knowledge, pedagogical tradition, organisational structure and technological advancement. Such barriers to engagement stifle the realisation of the child's communication rights that then limits educational enhancement. Supporting children's right to communicate via a range of media enables pedagogy supporting voice-inclusive practice.

A New Era for Labor Activism? Strategic Mobilization of Human Rights Against Blacklisting

Abstract: This article examines whether and how international human rights law transforms the grassroots mobilization strategies of labor activists. Drawing on original ethnographic research on the activism of blacklisted workers in the United Kingdom, I show that there is a two-tier process through which human rights norms are interpreted and mobilized, first by legal advocacy groups, then by grassroots activists. Contrary to skeptics who argue that human rights have a “mainstreaming” and “individualizing” effect on labor movements, this research shows that by strategically embedding human rights language in their campaigns, blacklisted workers leveraged media attention and facilitated changes in trade union rights discourse. Findings suggest that the strategic mobilization of human rights differs from other mobilization efforts, since labor activists use human rights language primarily to find a sympathetic audience within a political environment in which trade unions are viewed as a regressive force in the economy.

Assessing the human rights implications of the Nigerian law dealing with sexual orientation

Abstract: ......................................................................................................... xiii List of abbreviations.......................................................................................... xv List of statutes.................................................................................................. xvii List of cases cited................................................................................. ............ xxi Chapter 1: Introduction to the study..... ....................................................... 1 1.1 Background to the thesis........................................................................ 1 1.2 Research problem.................................................................................. 7 1.3 Research questions................................................................................. 8 1.4 Significance of the study......................................................................... 8 1.5 Delineation, limitation and scope of the study.......................................... 9 1.6 Definition of terms ................................................................................. 10 1.7 Methodology of approach ........................................................................ 17 1.8 Literature review .................................................................................... 20 1.9 Chapter analysis .................................................................................. .. 25 Chapter 2: Sodomy laws and the status of sexual minorities under Nigerian criminal law.............................................................................. 30 2.

Mainstreaming disability in the United Nations treaty bodies

Abstract: As of the beginning of this century, the United Nations (UN) human rights system had comprehensively elided persons with disabilities from its purview. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) responded to this lacuna in 2006. The CRPD obligates States parties to mainstream disability by protecting and promoting the human rights of persons with disabilities in all policies and programs, and intersects disability with other discriminated-against populations. This Article investigates the success of the UN in mainstreaming disability throughout its human rights treaty bodies over the period 2000–2014 by comparing the seven years before and the eight years after the CRPD's adoption for six core UN treaty bodies. In doing so, the Article provides initial and unique insight into how well the UN implements human rights norms into treaty bodies, and provides a template for future research on the inclusion of vulnerable group-based rights in the UN and beyond. Despite some signific...

The Abolition of the Insanity Defense in Sweden and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Human Rights Brinksmanship or Evidence It Won’t Work?

Abstract: The U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) may require the abolition of the insanity defense and similar “special defenses” in criminal law. Proponents argue that abolishing the defense would advance efforts to fully recognize the legal capacity of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others; detractors suggest it would compound the substantive inequality of an already marginalized population. This paper seeks to accelerate this debate with reference to Swedish criminal law, which saw the abolition of the insanity defense in 1965. Neither side of the debate appears to have considered the anomaly of Swedish criminal law. Equally, Swedish legislators appear to have overlooked CRPD-based considerations. Instead, Sweden seems likely to reintroduce the insanity defense following long-standing domestic criticism. This paper brings together developments in Sweden and international human rights law, and draws out conceptual and practical lessons in the quest for due process rights and substantive equality for people with disabilities in criminal law.