Unveiling the Challenges in the Implementation of Article 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities on the Right to Access to Justice: A Case Study of Lesotho

Article 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities guarantees access to justice in the context of disability as a human right and puts concrete and binding duties on state parties. It lays down a duty to safeguard effective access to justice for persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others. Nevertheless, persons with disabilities are extremely susceptible to marginalization and discrimination in Africa and are often denied access to justice. The situation in the Kingdom of Lesotho is not an exception to this reality. The research thus aims at unveiling challenges in the implementation of Article 13 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the right to access justice in the Kingdom of Lesotho and proposes possible recommendations. To this effect, the country’s policies and legislative framework were reviewed to determine the extent to which the right to access justice of persons with disabilities is met and aligned with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Factors that hinder persons with disabilities from accessing justice mechanisms in the country were also scrutinized, and the research concluded that persons with disabilities face difficulties in accessing justice because of social, legal and structural obstacles, and recommended legislative, administrative, judicial and other measures. In reaching this conclusion, the research adopted four methodologies of data collection- interview, on-site visit, focus group discussions and desk review research. The research used a human-rights based approach to disability issues so as to frame the enquiry, design the tools for analysis, and made practical findings and recommendations.