The importance of inclusive justice for people with disabilities

The URJC will dedicate one of its summer courses to analyzing the new regulatory regime for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, which has led to one of the most ambitious reforms of the Civil Code carried out in recent years.

Editorial Office/Rosa Márquez

Until the reform of Law 8/2021, people with intellectual disabilities saw their ability to act limited, since it was considered that they did not have the autonomy to manage their decisions. The new legal regime guarantees the exercise of their rights in full equality of conditions, which represents an important advance, not only for this group, but for the whole of society towards a more inclusive justice.

In order to make the reform known to the public, as well as to train and educate young university students and all the professionals in charge of putting it into practice, the URJC will teach the course on June 27: 'Inclusive justice: The exercise of the legal capacity of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities', within the program of the Summer Courses 2022. One of its directors, the professor of Philosophy of Law at the URJC, Marta Albert, points out that there are still many barriers to break down, “I would say that the main one has to do with the lack of awareness of all of us regarding the importance of cognitive accessibility. When information is offered to a person with an intellectual disability in an accessible way, he is able to internalize it, to bring it into her life and to understand”.

Student profile

The course is free and is not aimed exclusively at lawyers, but rather aims to impact the social fabric in a more transversal way and contribute to an effective paradigm shift. It will be especially useful for those professionals who work in the field of intellectual disability, such as doctors, psychologists, researchers or occupational therapists, but also for any person with sensitivity and interest in human rights.

Based on a theoretical-practical methodology, it will have presentations, workshops and round tables that will involve all the participants. The materials generated for the course will be made in easy reading and the cognitive accessibility of its contents will be ensured at all times.

Among the guests who will attend the course will be María Pino, an activist for the rights of people with disabilities, who managed to have her sentence reviewed before the reform of the law came into force.