ABSTRACT
New Zealand signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) on March 30, 2007, and ratified it on September 25, 2008. New Zealand acceded to the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD on October 5, 2016. It came into force in New Zealand on November 4, 2016. To ensure domestic law was in line with the UNCRPD, New Zealand reviewed its law for consistency with the Convention and passed two acts of Parliament shortly before ratification. New Zealand has resisted prompts from the United Nations Committee to change its domestic law to align with the Committee’s interpretation of Article 12. This would involve replacing New Zealand’s current law, which allows for substituted decision-making, with supported decision-making. New Zealand’s current law on intellectual capacity is spread across a wide range of statutes as well as the common law.
