KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Bar has called on the amendment of the Federal Constitution to strengthen the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities (PwDs).

President Mohamad Ezri Abdul Wahab said the Bar was deeply concerned that PwDs are still being discriminated against, including in education, health, employment, financial services, physical and digital accessibility, sports, and political participation.

"The Malaysian Bar therefore calls on the government to urgently amend Articles 8(2) and 12(1) of the Federal Constitution (FC) to ensure that it accords explicit protection of rights to PwDs.

"The proposed amendments will pave the way for Malaysia's long-overdue progress on harmonisation of domestic legislation with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which was rectified in July 2010.

"To date, 14 years have elapsed without Malaysia harmonising any domestic legislation with CRPD.

"Harmonisation must start with the FC and the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008, and must continue with other legislation covering all aspects of every citizen's life.

"The Constitution - as the supreme legislation of the nation - has to be harmonised with the CRPD.

"As it stands, the Federal Constitution does not cite disability as a ground for prohibition of discrimination and is thus not aligned with the CRPD," he said in a statement today.

Article 8 and Article 12 of the Constitution touch on equality and rights in respect of education, respectively.

Ezri said failure to uphold the rights and social protection of PwDs in Malaysia was inconsistent with the nation's international legally-binding obligations under the CRPD.

"The concept of equal protection of the law means effective protection against laws that discriminate on the basis of disability.

"This means that a person who is discriminated against must have a remedy through the law.

"Such protection includes the opportunity to have discriminatory legislation declared null and void," he said, adding that this could only be achieved if the guarantee of equality and non-discrimination on the grounds of disability is included in the Constitution. He said the Bar Council had established an ad-hoc committee on persons with disabilities, appointing Meera Samanther and Anit Kaur Randhawa as its co-chairpersons to ensure the execution of these legislative amendments.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2024/05/1047923/malaysian-bars-calls-amendment-constitution-ensure-holistic-protection