White Robyn M, Bornman Juan, Johnson Ensa, Tewson Karen, van Niekerk Joan
Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa.
National Prosecuting Authority, Pretoria, South Africa.
Afr J Disabil. 2020 Apr 1;9:651. doi: 10.4102/ajod.v9i0.651. eCollection 2020.
Persons with disabilities are generally at greater risk of experiencing violence than their peers without a disability. Within the sphere of disability, individuals with severe communication disabilities are particularly vulnerable and have an increased risk of being a victim of abuse or violence and typically turn to their country's criminal justice system to seek justice. Unfortunately, victims with disabilities are often denied fair and equal treatment before the court. Transformative equality should be pursued when identifying accommodations in court for persons with communication disabilities, as the aim should be to enable such individuals to participate equally in court, without barriers and discrimination.
This research aimed to identify court accommodations recommended by legal experts, which could assist individuals with severe communication disabilities in the South African court.
A qualitative design was used to conduct a discussion with a panel of legal experts.
Using Article 13 (Access to Justice) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as a human rights framework, four themes were identified: equality, accommodations, participation and training of professionals.
Foreign and national law clearly prohibits discrimination against persons with communication disabilities because of their disability and state that they should be given fair and equal access to the court system. For transformative equality to be achieved, certain rules and laws need to be changed to include specific accommodations for persons with communication disabilities so that they may be enabled to participate effectively in court in the criminal justice system.
残疾人通常比非残疾同龄人遭受暴力的风险更大。在残疾领域，严重沟通障碍者尤其脆弱，遭受虐待或暴力侵害的风险增加，他们通常会求助于本国刑事司法系统寻求正义。不幸的是，残疾受害者在法庭上往往得不到公平和平等的待遇。在确定为沟通障碍者提供法庭便利时，应追求变革性平等，因为目标应是使这些人能够无阻碍、无歧视地平等参与庭审。
本研究旨在确定法律专家推荐的法庭便利措施，以协助南非法庭中的严重沟通障碍者。
采用定性设计与法律专家小组进行讨论。
以《残疾人权利公约》第十三条（获得司法救助）作为人权框架，确定了四个主题：平等、便利措施、参与和专业人员培训。
外国和本国法律明确禁止因沟通障碍者的残疾而对其进行歧视，并规定应给予他们公平和平等的机会进入法院系统。为实现变革性平等，需要修改某些规则和法律，纳入针对沟通障碍者的具体便利措施，以便他们能够在刑事司法系统中有效地参与庭审。
