Category: Campaigns
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UN CRPD Committee Adopts General Comment No. 11 on Political and Public Participation
The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has issued General Comment No. 11 on the participation of persons with disabilities in political and public life (Advanced Unedited Version), adopted on 27 August 2026. The General Comment is intended to facilitate the realisation of Article 29 of the Convention on the Rights of…
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Hungary: Validity Briefs Council of Europe on Preventing Future Deaths Caused by Institutionalisation
On 7 September 2026, Validity Foundation Executive Director Steven Allen briefed representatives of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers in Strasbourg on Hungary’s implementation of the landmark European Court of Human Rights judgment in Validity Foundation on behalf of T.J. v. Hungary. The briefing was organised by the European Implementation Network (EIN), which supports civil society engagement in the…
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Tbilisi Court of Appeal Grants Beka Shonia Home Ventilator and Medical Services in Disability Rights Ruling
The Tbilisi Court of Appeal has overturned a lower court’s ruling and fully granted an interim measure request from Beka Shonia, a 21-year-old with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), ordering the extension of home medical services and provision of a new ventilator. Advocates say it is the first ruling of its kind in Georgia to secure home-delivered medical…
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Validity calls on the Irish EU Presidency to restore disability rights safeguards in the next EU budget
Validity Foundation has submitted a briefing to the Irish Government calling for the reinstatement of disability rights conditionality in the European Union’s next long-term budget, the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2028-2034. Under the current 2021-2027 framework, Member States must satisfy two enabling conditions before accessing EU structural funds: a horizontal condition requiring compliance with the UN Convention…
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Validity joins urgent call to Council of Europe Committee of Ministers to withdraw dangerous legislative proposal legitimising psychiatric coercion
The Validity Foundation has joined twelve other leading European organisations and networks of persons with disabilities to demand the urgent and immediate withdrawal of the draft Additional Protocol to the Oviedo Convention. Full joint statement below. If adopted by the Council of Europe’s highest decision-making body, the Committee of Ministers, the Additional Protocol would be…
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Regulation on the Protection of Adults
EU citizens with disabilities continue to be stripped of their legal capacity in many Member States by way of systems of ‘guardianship’. When this happens, they are not allowed to make decisions about their lives, like where and with whom to live, or how to spend their money. Countries often frame this as ‘protection’, but…
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15 NGOs and Law Offices Call for Review of Amendments to Rules of the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights’ (ECtHR) is planning to amend Rules 36 and 44 of the Rules of Court which concern, in the words of the Court, representation of “vulnerable adults”. In response to these proposed amendments, Validity with other 14 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and two law offices submitted a comprehensive response urging further consultation to ensure that vulnerable applicants retain their right…
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Three countries, three submissions: Validity contributes to the work of the UN Human Rights Committee concerning Czechia, Hungary and Moldova
Between December 2025 and February 2026, Validity submitted three written contributions to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (the ‘Committee’) ahead of its 145th session, scheduled to take place from 2 to 19 March 2026. During the session, the Committee will consider the fourth periodic report of the Republic of Moldova, and is expected to…
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Securing the Right to Counsel: Overturning Guardianship Authority Restrictions
On 5 December 2025, our organisation won an important court case against the guardianship authority in Pest County, Hungary, reinforcing the right to independent oversight and effective access to justice for persons with disabilities. In its decision, the Budapest Environs Regional Court ruled that the authority acted unlawfully when it twice refused to allow our lawyers to meet with…
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Kenya: High Court’s affirmation of persons with disabilities’ legal capacity a welcome step forward
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Validity Foundation, and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights welcome the judgment of the High Court of Kenya at Nairobi (the Court) in the recent case of Wilson Nderitu Macharia v I&M Bank Limited in which the High Court affirmed that persons with disabilities have the right to obtain the services of private banks on an equal basis with all others, without being…