CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES Japan's First Review and Concluding Observation

Kiyoshi Harada
Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD)

Japan's first review of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities took place at the 27th session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on August 22-23, 2022. The session came after a two-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Besides delegates from the Government of Japan comprised of representatives of ministries and agencies, more than 100 people from the Japan Disability Forum (JDF), of which the JSRPD is a member and secretariat, and several civil society organizations, including the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA), attended the session and voiced their concerns at private briefings. At the end of the session, the CRPD Committee adopted and released a "concluding observation," the outcome of the review.

The process was widely reported, and the online debriefing session organized by JDF on September 20, 2022 was attended by about 1,000 people and attracted a high level of interest from stakeholders.

1. What is a Convention-based Review?

The CRPD Committee considers periodic reports submitted by States parties in accordance with Article 36 of the Convention. The country session, which takes the form of question-and-answer between the independent experts of the CRPD Committee and the delegation of the State party concerned, is called "constructive dialogue." The report considered this time was the "initial report" submitted by the Government of Japan in 2017.

Prior to the review, civil society organizations, including organizations of persons with disabilities, submitted their own parallel reports (alternative reports) in parallel with the Government report and presented main concerns and relevant information from their respective standpoints through private briefings to the independent experts of the CRPD Committee.

The concluding observation for Japan is made public after the review process.

(1)  What is a Private Briefing?

A  private briefing is a process whereby the independent experts of the CRPD Committee directly hear the opinions of civil society organizations prior to constructive dialogue. Along with parallel reports, private briefings are also highly regarded as a way of gaining insight into the actual situation from the perspective of persons with disabilities, which is difficult to obtain from government reports alone. Although this is an official program of the review, the contents are not open to the public.

Two private briefings with the CRPD Committee were held on August 19 and 20, 2022 and representatives from eight organizations, including the above-mentioned JDF and JFBA, participated. The eight organizations met before their trip to Geneva at the invitation of the JDF and agreed on the order and duration of their statements to ensure that the limited time available could be used efficiently. The first meeting on the 19th was held gathering comments from the groups, followed by questions from the CRPD Committee experts, to which those organizations promptly compiled their responses and agreed on the order of presenting the responses later. Then, on August 22, the organizations made oral responses at the briefing and submitted the same information in writing. In addition to the briefing, each organization also held an informal exchange of opinions with the Committee experts.

(2) Constructive Dialogue

A  constructive dialogue was held for three hours each on August 22 and 23.  The delegation from the Government of Japan consisted of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Cabinet Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC), the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), and the Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Geneva.

The constructive dialogue was divided into three clusters according to Articles 1-10, 11-20, and 21-33 of the Convention, with the Government delegation responding to questions from the Committee experts. At the country session, the Committee asked pointed questions to the delegation that accurately captured the issues raised by civil society. The Government replied slower to allow for interpretation and information accessibility but merely explained the current relevant measures. There were also occasions when the delegation's general explanations of institutional measures did not match up with the specific and individual questions from the Committee's experts in line with the content of the Convention. Due to the limited time, some of the questions will be covered in writing by the Government at a later date.

In her closing remarks at the end of the second day, Vice-Chair Kim Mi-young (Republic of Korea) was met with tears of applause when she said, "I recommend that Japan, as a State party, continue to communicate and work with persons with disabilities, their organizations, and families, who have dedicated themselves to human rights and freedom throughout their lives (excerpt).

(3) Concluding Observations

The "preliminary unedited version" of the concluding observation was released to Japan on September 9, 2022 at the end of the session, and the finalized version on October 7, 2022.   At 19 pages in A4 size, it consists of an introduction, positive developments, principal areas of concern and recommendations, and follow-up (future procedures, etc.).  Positive developments include the Act for the Promotion of Measures Concerning the Acquisition and Use of  Information Communication by Persons with Disabilities, the Act to Eliminate Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities and its amendments, the Act on the Use of Telephone for Persons with Hearing Impairments, the Act on the Provision of Lump-sum Compensation to Persons Who Received Eugenic Surgery under the Former Eugenic Protection Act, the Barrier-Free Act and its amendment, the Act on the Promotion of Comprehensive and Integrated Measures for the Realization of a Universal Society, the Act on the Promotion of Cultural and Artistic Activities by Persons with Disabilities, the Employment Promotion Act for Persons with Disabilities and its amendment, as well as several administrative guidelines and plans being listed.

The main parts of the concluding observation are the concerns and recommendations with regard to Articles 1-33. The content is wide-ranging, but in particular, it details issues related to inclusive education and psychiatric care, including involuntary and long-term hospitalization, institutionalization and transition into the community, and multiple and intersectional discrimination issues related to women with disabilities. Detailed analysis and evaluation will be conducted in the future, but the concluding observation reflects a broad range of information from civil society.

The Committee calls for Japan to submit its next report (a summary of the second to fourth periodic reports) by February 2028 in the follow-up section of the concluding observations.  The Committee shall report the list of issues at least one year before that date.

(4) Parallel Reports

Two types of parallel reports from civil society are generally submitted.

1) Parallel Reports on a List of Issues

After receiving reports from the States Parties, the CRPD Committee prepares a "list of issues" in relation to the report and informs the States Parties about its review. The parallel reports provide relevant information on the issues in question. In each country, multiple organizations often submit their parallel report, but the Committee emphasizes comprehensive reports that organizations across disabilities and sectors jointly produce.

JDF, consisting of 13 organizations from across Japan, established a parallel report preparatory committee in 2017 when the Government submitted the initial report, as well as a parallel report special committee the following year in 2018 to prepare the report, which was eventually submitted in July 2019 while continuing discussions every month. The list of issues for Japan was prepared at the CRPD Committee on the 12th Pre-Sessional Working Group meeting in September of the same year, again with the participation of JDF and other civil society organizations to provide the briefings. As a result, a substantial amount of information provided by civil society was included.

2) Parallel Report for Concluding Observations

This report provides information for the CRPD Committee to prepare concluding observations. JDF developed the report through frequent discussions and submitted it in March 2021. The report presents a set of concerns and recommendations for each provision, the same style as the UN's concluding observations.

Subsequently, government responses to the list of issues were submitted to the UN in May 2022, and in July 2022 JDF submitted its written comments on them as an annex to its report for the concluding observations.

2. History of the Participation of Disability Organizations in the Review Process

Backdropped by the enthusiastic participation of many civil society organizations in this series of review processes is the active involvement of organizations of persons with disabilities in the negotiation process at the United Nations that led to the development of the Convention and the institutional reforms necessary for its ratification in Japan. I would like to look back on this.

(1) Negotiations at the UN for the Adoption of the Convention

In 2001, the 56th UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to establish an " Ad Hoc Committee" to study the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Committee met eight times from 2002 to 2006 and was attended by government delegations from various countries and civil society organizations, including many organizations of persons with disabilities, who made important statements under the slogan "Nothing About Us Without Us”.

From Japan, experts with disabilities participated in the government delegation as advisors, and a wide range of organizations related to people with disabilities formed a group to observe the Ad-hoc committee, with a total of about 200 people participating by the 8th session. Furthermore, in Japan, organizations of persons with disabilities have formed partnerships with Government ministries and agencies to exchange opinions regularly. A non-partisan Diet Member Caucus for promoting the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was formed in 2005. This way, the treaty negotiation process led to the formation of partnerships among organizations of persons with disabilities and with the national government.

After discussions by the Ad-hoc Committee, the Convention was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 13, 2006.

(2) Reform of the System for Persons with Disabilities Toward Ratification of the Convention

After the adoption of the Convention, the Government of Japan signed the Convention in September 2007. They then announced its policy to ratify the Convention in 2009. However, the ratification was postponed due to JDF's opposition on the grounds that sufficient domestic legal systems had not yet been developed.

Subsequently, in 2009, the Government began reforming the national disability policy and established the Council for the Promotion of Reform of the System for People with Disabilities. The Council was composed of a majority of persons with disabilities and their families, and deliberations proceeded with various considerations in progress and operation. As a result, based on the basic policy of reform, which is to "promote intensive reform of Japan's systems for persons with disabilities, including the development of domestic laws necessary for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities," the Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities (2011) was amended, the Act for the Comprehensive Support of Persons with Disabilities was enacted (2012), and the Act to Eliminate Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities was enacted (2013). Japan then deposited its ratification of the Convention with the United Nations in December 2014 and became a party to the Convention.

Thus, there has been substantial participation of organizations of persons with disabilities in the process of adoption, ratification, and implementation of the Convention, which has also led to current developments surrounding the review.

It should be noted with gratitude that since 2002, the Japan Foundation Center (JFC) has coordinated the efforts to promote the Convention and has provided continuous and generous joint funding to JDF from corporate grant-making foundations.

3. Future Initiatives

The challenge is how to promote the Convention's implementation and realize a livable society for all, taking advantage of the recommendations of the concluding observations and continuing to work with the Government and the Diet members' Caucus.

The Commission on Policy for Persons with Disabilities will promote and monitor the implementation of the Convention in Japan through the Basic Plan for Persons with Disabilities. Still, the future challenge will be to promote implementation in the judicial and legislative fields, as well as in local governments, which the Plan does not easily reach. Ratification of the Optional Protocol and the establishment of a national human rights institution are also issues common to other human rights fields. The question is how the great interest and enthusiasm surrounding the review will impact  future activities.

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