Disability Legal Protection in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region: Law vs. Implementation under the CRPD

Abstract

This paper focuses on the legal protection of the disabled in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region by comparing the two on the basis of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities (CRPD). It will assess how well domestic legal frameworks conform to international standards and the discrepancies between formal legal acknowledgement and the realisation of disability rights. The study takes a comparative legal, analytical, and descriptive methodology. It examines the major provisions of the constitution, federal laws, especially Law No. 38 of 2013 (as amended), and Kurdish laws, such as Law No. 22 of 2011, and other international tools. The paper targets the fundamental rights of equality and non-discrimination, dignity, education, healthcare, employment, and political representation. The results demonstrate that, although Iraq and the Kurdistan Region have achieved considerable advancement in legislation and officially appreciate most of the rights of persons with disabilities, there are still considerable gaps. These are the lack of explicit constitutional acknowledgement of disability as a discrimination factor, the continued use of a medical and paternalistic stance in several laws, and the presence of restrictive clauses that diminish legal capacity and political participation. Moreover, the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms, administrative obstacles, and the lack of societal attitudes to the effective implementation of these rights in practice are still impediments to the achievement of the realization of these rights in practice. It is concluded that the key problem is not the absence of legal provisions but the disconnect between the legal obligations and their practice. It suggests a radical change in the legislation to align domestic laws with the CRPD, the clear identification of disability-based discrimination, the reinforcement of the enforcement measures, and the adoption of a rights-oriented approach, which would guarantee the substantive equality and the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in society.