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26 Austl. J. Asian L. 1 (2025)

handle is hein.journals/ajal26 and id is 1 raw text is: Australian Journal of Asian Law, 2025, Vol 26 No 1, Article 1: 1-4 Disability and Law in Asia Special Issue: Introduction Ayah Wehbe* and Dina Afrianty* The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the most widely ratified international human rights convention. This widespread support reflects the CRPD's role as a global framework for promoting the human rights and inherent dignity of people with disability, demonstrating a shared international commitment to advancing equality and inclusion. Methods of estimating the prevalence of disability vary, but, using the approach adopted by the UN Economic and Social Committee for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) (United Nations, 2022: 2), it can be estimated that over 700 million people in Asia live with some form of disability. The seven articles in this special issue provide insights into disability and law in seven states that have divergent cultural and religious traditions and differences in political systems -or, at least, in democratic trajectories. They therefore provide a useful sample size to reflect on progress in Asia with the implementation of the CRPD, and the important objective of meaningfully enhancing the social and economic empowerment of people with disability. It is p articularly pleasing to be able to address disability in a specialist law journal. It will quickly become apparent from the work presentedhere that achieving the aspiration of full participation and oveirll social inlusion lfor people with lisability is - l'undiamentally - a question of human rights. Disability thereolre engages syst ems of governance. Ihe legal ordler. andi access tojustiie. as well as lawmaking and policy implementntion more generally. 11 might be assumed,. given brna interna l ional commilment to lhe (Ci1PD). that state part ies are willing andi able to lake the necessary steps dlomest ically to ensure that the rights of people wit h dlisability can be achievedl. Unfiortunately, this is not Ihe case in praclice. as these artiiles (demonstrate. The implantnion of lisability rights perhaps in common with other areas of human rights. appears to inevitably bult up against a suite of other cultural andi systemic impedliments. This special edlit ion gives us the opportunity to reflect on not only specific examples of such challenges. but also commonalities among t hem. 11 is a remindler of the power. but also the limits. of universal lisability rights principles an Ihe law as a tool for social change. (Carole J Peterson explores the unusual andi somewhat ambiguous situntion of human rights enliorement in Ilong IKong (arlicle 2). That territory s key lisability ordlinance. which preldates the C') itsell. appears to bear all Ihe hallmarks of common law anti-dliscriminat ion legislation - a result of Hong Kong's colonial history. Along with a detailed history of the emergence of human rights protections, the author explains clearly the procedural and practical limitations of access to justice for people with disability. Based on research findings, she concludes that the system operates to discourage litigation and to encourage conciliation. The article moves on to consider the critical issue of legal capacity and the rights of people with disability to equality before the law. This highlights the need for continuing harmonisation of laws to ensure the CRPD is effectively implemented. Peterson concludes with a warning about the impact on disability advocacy of shrinking civic space in Hong Kong. Specific local conditions and 'legal culture' are the major theme of Stephen Rosenbaum's review of the Buddhist-inspired Gross National Happiness policy in Bhutan (article 3). While this provides an overarching framework to promote good governance and equitable social development, Bhutan also possesses the largely familiar constitutional principles of fundamental rights, including non- discrimination. It also transpires, however, that it has no disability law, but rather a national policy statement. The disability policy reflects a rights-based approach but sits within a wider culture with Ayah has worked, and is finishing her PhD at, the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. * Dina Afrianty works at the Thomas More Law School, Australian Catholic University, and is the founder of Australia- Indonesia Disability Research and Advocacy Network (AIDRAN).

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