Protecting Persons with Disabilities in the Baltic States: Empowering by law

ENIn the Baltic States, the protection and empowerment of people with disabilities remain areas that still call for reconsideration and improvement. Persons with physical disabilities, and more particularly with mental disabilities, face various barriers that hinder enjoyment of their rights and thus their full participation in society. First and foremost, discrimination against people with disabilities still occurs and efforts should be devoted to overcoming this. Secondly, the instruments designed for the general population often fail to take account of additional measures of protection needed for this vulnerable group. Moreover, compliance with international human-rights standards and the persisting gap between these standards and practices also need to be addressed. This chapter aims to identify and examine the legal-regulation shortcomings related to the protection of the persons with physical and mental disabilities and to suggest legal means for improving the situation. It covers the three Baltic States—Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, although the primary focus is on Lithuania. The author bases her research on the comparative analysis of legal documents, as well as on national and international reports, reports of non-governmental organisations and other available sources. [From the publication]