OP Lab was an ARCH-led project funded by Employment and Social Development Canada aimed at building awareness and capacity within disability and legal communities across Canada to use the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol (OP) to advance disability rights.
About the Optional Protocol Lab
The CRPD is an international law aimed at promoting, protecting and ensuring human rights and fundamental freedoms for persons with disabilities. The Optional Protocol (acceded to by Canada in 2018) is an additional mechanism allowing individuals to submit complaints to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities when domestic legal remedies have been exhausted.
OP Lab engaged approximately 180 community champions and 50 disability rights lawyers in cross-disability accessible live sessions and virtual classrooms across multiple languages (English, French, ASL, LSQ).
OP Lab Curriculum & Live Sessions
Module 1: Introduction to CRPD, its Optional Protocol and UN Disability Rights Tools
Introduction u00e0 la CDPH, u00e0 son protocole facultatif et u00e0 du2019autres outils des droits des personnes handicapu00e9es de lu2019ONU u2014 September 16, 2020
ARCH lawyers and guest speakers introduce key UN disability rights tools, including the CRPD, the Optional Protocol, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Special Rapporteur on Disability.
Module 2: How UN Tools Have Advanced Disability Rights in Canada & Globally
Comment les outils de lu2019ONU ont-ils fait progresser les droits au Canada et ailleurs? u2014 September 23, 2020
Project partners and guest speakers describe how participating in CRPD advocacy at the UN helped advance rights through research, policy, litigation, and law reform.
Module 3: Using the CRPD Optional Protocol for Individual Complaints
Utilisation du protocole facultatif pour les plaintes individuelles u2014 September 30, 2020
Explores how the Optional Protocol can be used to submit complaints regarding CRPD violations, procedural requirements, and anticipated legal outcomes.
Module 4: What Does “Exhausting Domestic Remedies” Mean?
Que signifie u00abu00e9puiser les recours internesu00bb pour les plaintes relatives au Protocole facultatif? u2014 October 7, 2020
Disability rights lawyers from several provinces explain domestic exhaustion requirements across human rights commissions, tribunals, and courts.
Project Partners
ARCH gratefully acknowledges our national project partners: Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians (AEBC), BCANDS, CACL, CAD, CCRW, CDAC, COPHAN, CCD, DAWN Canada, Independent Living Canada, People First of Canada, National Coalition of Guide and Service Dogs, NNMH, Tlingit Sovereign Nation, and Osgoode Hall Law School.
Latest OP Lab Updates & Publications
Browse recent articles, legal submissions, and reports related to the OP Lab project:
-
ARCH proudly marks the successful conclusion of our multi-year OP Lab curriculum, which delivered live, cross-disability accessible virtual training sessions in English, French, ASL, and… Read more ❯
-
Co-authored with lawyers from Osgoode Hall Law School and regional disability networks, this practice toolkit breaks down step-by-step how community advocates can preserve international Treaty… Read more ❯
-
ARCH has published a detailed legal research paper examining the procedural thresholds and domestic exhaustion requirements for bringing individual complaints before the UN Committee on… Read more ❯