Article 3 [General principles]

The chapter focuses on Article 3 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which lays down eight general principles that provide guidance to States Parties as to interpret the substantive rights and obligations of the CRPD and as to achieve the purpose of the CRPD established in Article 1. The general principles should also serve as a "filter" through which States Parties should assess the conformity of domestic laws with the objectives of the Convention. The identification of a set of principles is a well-recognized practice in international law, in particular in multilateral environmental agreements, while in the context of human rights treaties general principles are usually drawn from the substantive provisions or are contained in the preamble. The inclusion in the CRPD of a stand-alone article on "General principles" is an innovation and, under this aspect, the Convention is unique among the UN core human rights treaties.