Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
List of issues in relation to the initial report of Latvia *
A.Purpose and general obligations (arts. 1-4)
1.Please inform the Committee about progress made to harmonize the scope of disability in the Disability Law with the object and purpose of the Convention. Please indicate whether the disability determination system, effective from 1 January 2015, is based on individual needs and promotes the full inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in society.
2.Please provide information on progress made to ensure that both existing and new legislation, including the disability law, complies with the Convention, and specifically how the national and the 119 municipal governments have harmonized their existing and draft legislation, regulations, strategies and programmes with the obligations under the Convention.
3.Please clarify whether legal definitions exist of the terms “reasonable accommodation” and “universal design” and explain to what extent these concepts are incorporated into national and municipal legislation and the requirements of public administration.
4.Please provide details of the mandate, composition and resources of the National Council on Disability Affairs and the outcome of any assessment of its effectiveness in mainstreaming the rights of persons with disabilities into all sectors of public administration at the national and municipal levels.
5.Please provide updated information on the goals defined in the guidelines on implementing the Convention for 2014-2020, the extent to which the goals have been met and the participation of organizations of persons with disabilities in the implementation and monitoring of the goals.
6.Please provide information on the training of staff, policymakers and professionals on the rights of persons with disabilities in line with the Convention at the national and municipal levels.
7.Please provide information on the number and outcome of cases of discrimination on the grounds of disability, as well as penalties for perpetrators and remedies for victims.
B.Specific rights (arts. 5-30)
Equality and non-discrimination (art. 5)
8.Please specify whether legal provisions to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of disability are applicable to all persons with disabilities, including persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities. Please indicate what measures have been taken to ensure non‑discrimination against persons with disabilities by private actors.
9.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex, impairment and place of residence on the number of cases brought by persons with disabilities alleging discrimination in employment and in the provision of accommodation, goods, products and services, and detail the penalties given to perpetrators of discrimination and the remedies awarded to victims.
Women with disabilities (art. 6)
10.Please provide information on specific strategies to promote the active participation and equal rights of women and girls with disabilities, especially in the areas of education, employment and health, including sexual and reproductive health, and to ensure their protection from gender-based violence, including sexual violence.
11.Please provide information on why the number of women with disabilities has, according to the State party’s initial report (see CRPD/C/LVA/1, para. 62), increased significantly over the past 10 years.
Children with disabilities (art. 7)
12.Please provide information on the number of children with disabilities who:
(a)Are living in residential institutions and social care centres;
(b)Are attending special schools;
(c)Have been transferred to inclusive living settings and foster families.
13.Please provide information on progress made in implementing the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (see CRC/C/LVA/CO/3-5, para. 47 (a)-(d)).
Awareness-raising (art. 8)
14.Please clarify whether awareness-raising training programmes to eradicate prejudices, specifically against persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, have been provided to members of the parliament, all administration of justice personnel and employees of the State and municipalities, since ratification of the Convention.
Accessibility (art. 9)
15.Please provide an update on the development of a national accessibility strategy and on whether monitoring, compliance and sanction mechanisms have been established to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to the physical environment, transportation, information and communications and other public facilities and services, both in rural and urban areas. Please explain to what extent organizations of persons with disabilities are involved in monitoring mechanisms.
Right to life (art. 10)
16.Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex and impairment on deaths occurring in institutions, including the outcomes of investigations into causes of death and prosecutions.
Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies (art. 11)
17.Please provide information on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in evacuation plans for emergencies, including the training of emergency personnel and provision of accessible services.
Equal recognition before the law (art. 12)
18.Please clarify whether amendments to civil law aim to fully restore all rights to persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities while unreservedly replacing the guardianship regime with supported decision-making mechanisms.
Access to justice (art. 13)
19.Please indicate what measures have been taken to train administration of justice personnel, including judges, prosecutors, police officers and prison staff, on the implementation of laws protecting and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities with sufficient safeguards, including through providing procedural accommodation, especially for persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities and those living in institutions.
Liberty and security of the person (art. 14)
20.Please indicate whether there are any plans to repeal laws, policies and practices that permit the institutionalization of persons with disabilities, including those with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities, particularly where the inability to provide appropriate services in the municipality or specialized foster care serves as justification for institutionalization.
21.Please indicate how the State party has responded to cases in which persons with disabilities have undergone psychiatric treatment without their informed consent, and what measures have been taken to prevent such violations.
Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art. 15)
22.Please provide information on how the rights of children with disabilities, especially those who are blind and visually-impaired, deaf and hearing-impaired or those with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, are protected in cases where they are deprived of their liberty, including in social correction institutions.
23.Please provide information on progress made in implementing the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee (see CCPR/C/LVA/CO/3, para. 16) and the Committee against Torture (see CAT/C/LVA/CO/3-5 and Corr.1, para. 23).
Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse (art. 16)
24.Please provide data on the prevalence and trends of different forms of violence perpetrated against persons with disabilities, disaggregated by age, sex, impairment and relationship of the perpetrator to the victim, indicating the outcome of any prosecutions.
25.Please indicate how persons with disabilities are provided with reasonable accommodation in places of detention and the measures taken to prevent violence, especially against persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities.
Protecting the integrity of the person (art. 17)
26.Please specify the number of forced abortions performed on women and girls with disabilities and the support, health care and rehabilitation services offered to such women.
Liberty of movement and nationality (art. 18)
27.Please provide the assessment criteria for restricting the movement of persons with disabilities in institutions, and provide details of the duration of the restriction and ability to appeal.
Living independently and being included in the community (art. 19)
28.Please provide updated information on the deinstitutionalization schedule, on measures taken to strengthen the municipalities’ capacity to provide services in the community and to secure independent living for persons with disabilities, and on whether civil society has been consulted and has participated in the process. Please explain continuing institutionalization in specific cases.
Personal mobility (art. 20)
29.Please provide updated information on the provision of quality technical aids and assistive technology throughout the State party, as recommended in the universal periodic review process (see A/HRC/32/15, para. 120.73).
Freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information (art. 21)
30.Please clarify whether a legal regulation recognizing Latvian sign language as an official language has been adopted.
31.Please specify the measures taken to ensure the accessibility of information disseminated through the mass media and the Internet, with particular reference to sign language interpretation for deaf persons.
Respect for privacy (art. 22)
32.Please clarify whether the State party plans to revise the practice of maintaining a centralized register of detailed data on persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities.
Respect for home and the family (art. 23)
33.Please provide information on the support available to:
(a)Parents with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities to nurture their children;
(b)Parents of children with disabilities.
Education (art. 24)
34.Please provide information on the measures taken to implement inclusive education in the State party, on budgetary measures to train teachers in this regard and to ensure the development of an inclusive curriculum. Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex and impairment on inclusion at all levels of education.
35.Please provide information on concrete measures to prevent and eliminate multiple and intersectional discrimination on the grounds of disability, age and sex, in accordance with targets 10.2 and 10.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Health (art. 25)
36.Please clarify whether the State party plans to increase its funding of health services in order to improve the availability and accessibility of care, particularly for women with disabilities and persons with visual, hearing, intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities.
37.Please provide information on the measures taken to educate health-care personnel on the rights of persons with disabilities, in accordance with target 3.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, and specify how their impact is measured.
Habilitation and rehabilitation (art. 26)
38.Please provide details of the outcome of any assessment carried out on the accessibility and effectiveness of the rehabilitation system and services in the State party.
Work and employment (art. 27)
39.Please provide information on policies and other support available to encourage the employment of persons with disabilities in the open labour market, including by ensuring that reasonable accommodation is provided in the workplace and by offering incentives for employers. Please provide data disaggregated by age, sex and impairment on persons with disabilities employed in the segregated and open labour markets.
Adequate standard of living and social protection (art. 28)
40.Please provide data on the levels of poverty among persons with disabilities, especially children with disabilities, compared with adults and children without disabilities and provide information on social protection measures taken in this regard, including incentives utilized in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
Participation in political and public life (art. 29)
41.Please provide information on progress made in ensuring that all polling stations are accessible and that information about electoral processes is available in accessible formats for all voters with disabilities.
Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport (art. 30)
42.Please indicate what progress has been made in the process towards ratification of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled.
43.Please provide information on measures adopted to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to sporting activities on an equal basis with others and indicate whether awards are given to accomplished athletes with disabilities.
C.Specific obligations (arts. 31-33)
Statistics and data collection (art. 31)
44.Please specify how the confidentiality and privacy of persons with disabilities is ensured in the process of collecting and maintaining the State Commission’s Disability Information System.
45.Please provide information on the development and use of disability equality indicators, in accordance with target 17.18 of the Sustainable Development Goals, and on how the State party consults organizations of persons with disabilities in this regard.
International cooperation (art. 32)
46.Please provide information on progress made and the participation of persons with disabilities in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
National implementation and monitoring (art. 33)
47.Please specify whether the Office of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Latvia is an independent monitoring framework to promote, protect and monitor the implementation of the Convention, in compliance with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles). Please clarify whether the Office is allocated an adequate budget and whether it ensures the full participation of persons with disabilities or their representative organizations in its work.