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Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Asia: Seeking Substantive Equality to Vote and to Be Elected
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About this book
About this book
This book discusses the current status of political participation by persons with disabilities in Asia and analyzes the challenges that legal systems face in realizing their political rights. In the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Article 29 “Participation in Political and Public Life” requires that States Parties to ensure the political rights of persons with disabilities and to provide them the opportunities to enjoy these rights on an equal basis with others. The international trend regarding the political participation of persons with disabilities is to amend national laws so that their right to vote is not restricted. However, even in the EU, which is a leader in the international human rights movement, less than half of member states clearly provide that individuals shall not be deprived of the right to vote under any circumstances. The analysis presented in this book reveals that in Asia, there has been only a slow movement toward lifting restrictions on the exercise of voting rights by persons with disabilities. While constitutions and disability laws state that the political rights of persons with disabilities are recognized, restrictions are nevertheless placed on the exercise of political rights through election laws and other means. Of course, this trend is a common problem not only in Asia but also all around the world, and the rights of persons with intellectual and mental disabilities in particular tend to be violated. While improving accessibility for persons with disabilities is an essential prerequisite for them to enjoy substantive political rights, countries in Asia often attempts to solve this problem by allowing proxy voting, which in an infringement against the spirit of CRPD. Efforts are expected toward creating a parliamentary system in which persons with disabilities can be elected as legislators and participate directly as members of the parliament.
Contents
Preface
Introduction Issues Regarding Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Asia
Author：Masayuki Kobayashi
Chapter 1 Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in South Korea
Author：Takanori Sai
Chapter 2 Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in China: Issues Regarding the Legal System and Suffrage
Author：Masayuki Kobayashi
Chapter 3 Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Thailand: Election Law and the Right to Vote
Author：Kikuo Nishizawa
Chapter 4 Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Cambodia
Author：Kenji Yotsumoto
Chapter 5 Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Philippines: Legal Development Led by International Cooperation and the CRPD, and Remaining Problems
Author：Soya Mori
Chapter 6 Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in India
Author：Noriyuki Asano
Preface
Preface
This publication is the final product of the Institute of Developing Economies’ three-year study group on “Political Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Asian Countries,” which began in FY2020. This study builds on the results of previous studies on education, employment, and accessibility for persons with disabilities in Asia, as well as on the results of studies on the multiple discrimination against women with disabilities. In particular, in the research on the legal capacity of persons with disabilities conducted in FY 2018-19, it became clear that the merely having a disability may negate the capacity to act or deprive the right to vote or be elected, which led to this study. This study focuses on guaranteeing the political rights of persons with disabilities in Asian countries in light of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and clarifies the current situation and issues. In addition to clarifying the unique situation in each country, the study sought to discover common issues in the Asian region through comparative analysis.
The study group members consisted of researchers specializing in Asian law who are familiar with local laws and languages, as well as researchers and practitioners who are knowledgeable of “disability and development” and the Asian disability movements. The research was conducted in collaboration between these two groups, and through discussions in the study group and exchanges of opinions with the local community, the chapters of this book were written based on the local legal system, legal culture, and the actual disability movements. During the past three years we were in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, therefore we were only able to do field work in two countries. However, we were able to advance our research remotely through online interviews with persons with disabilities and disability law researchers. We hope that this publication will promote the sharing of knowledge among Asian countries.
In the study group, in addition to the members who wrote this book, we received lectures and valuable advice from outside experts. In FY 2000, lectures were given by Professor Jun Ueki of Meijo University School of Law on political participation of persons with disabilities, Professor Mari Miura of Sophia University School of Law on international trends in gender quotas and institutional design, Professor Shioto Fukuchi of Chubu Gakuin University on political participation of persons with disabilities in Sweden, and Professor Kyoko Hikita of Kagoshima Prefectural College on issues related to women’s political participation in Indonesia, especially the constitutional court decision on gender quotas. In FY 2021, Ms. Midori Hirano, Chairperson of the DPI-Japan, gave a lecture on the significance and challenges of political participation from the perspective of persons with disabilities, and Dr. Lalin Kovudhikulrungsri, Faculty of Law, Thammasat University gave a lecture on political rights of persons with disabilities in Thailand. In FY 2022, Mr. Kazuhide Furusho, Secretary General of the Network for Promoting Independence and Political Participation of Persons with Disabilities gave a very interesting lecture on the exercise of the right to vote and issues related to legislative activities from the perspective of a legislator with disabilities, and Professor Wanhong Zhang of Wuhan University gave a lecture on political participation of persons with disabilities in China. Moreover, sign language interpreters assisted us in discussing these various difficult topics. We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who contributed to this work.
Finally, anonymous reviewers from within the Institute provided constructive criticism and valuable comments, which were very helpful in compiling the manuscript for publication. In addition, many people shared their valuable time and provided us with useful information during our fieldwork. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them.
Masayuki KOBAYASHI (Editor)
December 2023