Domestic incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Marshall Islands

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (‘Convention’) and its Optional Protocol were adopted on 13 December 2006, and were opened for signature on 30 March 2007.1 It was described as ‘the highest number of signatories in history to a UN Convention on its opening day’.2 Unfortunately, this was less inclusive of the Asia-Pacific countries: the region was considered to have the lowest rate of signatures and ratification of the Convention (UNESCAP 2015). Only three countries in the Pacific (Australia, New Zealand and Vanuatu ) have signed the convention at the time it was opened for signature, while most of the Pacific Islands countries became a state party some years later. The Republic of the Marshall Islands (‘Marshall Islands’) is the most recent Pacific island state to become a party to the Convention on 17 March 2015.

This paper gives an account of the domestic incorporation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the Marshall Islands. It is a personal reflection with some critiques and comments on some of the work involved in the process of translation of the Convention into domestic law. It first looks at the accession to the international convention; second, it reviews the formulation of policy which drives legislative measures and social policies; third, it discusses the legislative review and compliance process to finetune the national legislative framework; and fourth, it describes the adoption of a comprehensive non-discriminatory law in compliance with the Convention.