ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of domestic disability laws that were enacted prior to the adoption of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Today, over one billion people in the world have a disability. However, the development of international laws to protect the rights of people with disabilities occurred relatively slowly. In 1987, Italy introduced the first proposal for a disability-specific UN convention, which was followed, in 1989, by a proposal by Sweden. The various disability discrimination laws that were enacted prior to the CRPD differed in their structure, scope, and coverage. The CRPD represents a paradigm shift in the view of people with disabilities from those in need of charity, protection, or medical intervention to individuals capable of holding and enforcing their rights under international law. This paradigm shift is reflected in the CRPD's rejection of the medical model of disability in favor of the social model of disability.
