ABSTRACT
The concept of living independently and being included in the community is unprecedented in international law; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the international human rights treaty to recognise its importance and its Committee has confirmed its core elements in its most recent General Comment No.5. The core elements of Article 19 CRPD include the obligations of States Parties to ensure non-discrimination in accessing housing, including both income and accessibility, and adopting mandatory building regulations, ensuring the accessibility of new and renovated housing. The motivations of States Parties to continue to have recourse to institutionalisation are sometimes framed around the fact that they are required to take measures to the maximum of their available resources with regard to economic, social and cultural rights in accordance with Article 4(2) CRPD. As legal capacity is a persons with disabilities to restore sovereignty over their own lives, a gap exists as to how they exercise this right.
