(9) UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES:
SERVICE IN THE ARMED FORCES
1.60 Service in the Armed Forces is exempt from the
application of the Equality Act 2010, in so far as that Act protects
against discrimination on the grounds of disability.[55]
The UK has entered a reservation to the UN Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities ("the UN Convention") in
order to preserve this exemption. Our predecessor Committee concluded
that neither the exemption nor the reservation were necessary
and both undermined the protection of people with disabilities
from unjustified discrimination.
1.61 In its Report on the UN Convention, our predecessor
Committee concluded:
In our view, the existing exemption is inconsistent
with the requirements of the Convention and would be subject to
challenge without a reservation. We reiterate our recommendation
that the existing exemption should be reconsidered in the Equality
Bill.[56]
1.62 In its Report on the Equality Bill, they reiterated
their assessment:
We reiterate that the exemption of the armed forces
from the scope of the disability provisions of the Bill is unnecessary
and incompatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities. It also may give rise to issues of incompatibility
with the ECHR, in particular with the Article 8 ECHR right to
respect for private life combined with the Article 14 ECHR right
to equality and non-discrimination. We repeat our recommendation
that the Government should at least reconsider the necessity for
the reservation within 6 months of Royal Assent being signified
to the Equality Bill.[57]
1.63 We wrote to the Minister to ask for further
information on the Government's position on this reservation.
We also asked for information on the treatment of Armed Forces
personnel who are injured while in service. The Minister's reply
provided some statistics on the type of injuries sustained by
people injured while in service. He also confirmed that the Government
would keep the "continuing need for this reservation under
periodic review". However, the Government considers that
the reservation is needed in order to "maintain the operational
effectiveness of the armed forces". The Minister explained
the Government's view that there is a "clear moral obligation
for the Services to look after personnel who have been injured".
However, it remains Armed Forces policy that it will discharge
all persons medically unfit for military service. The Minister
explains that some personnel who are unfit, but capable of performing
limited duties, are retained but classified "Medically downgraded".
These cases are considered on a case-by-case basis.[58]
1.64 The Government's position is the same as the
previous Government's when our predecessor Committee conducted
its last inquiry on this issue (at the time that the reservation
to the UN Convention was entered). The Minister has provided no
further evidence that the blanket exemption in the Equality Act
2010 and the reservation to the UN Convention is necessary. There
is nothing in the UN Convention which would require the Armed
Forces to deploy disabled people who were not capable into combat
situations. For example, no similar exemption applies to police
forces or fire services in the UK. Equally, there is nothing in
the Convention which would require the Armed Forces to retain
personnel who were incapable of performing duties in the Armed
Forces.
1.65 We welcome
the Minister's commitment to keep under periodic review the existing
reservation to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities for service in the Armed Forces. During
the passage of this Bill, we recommend that the Minister provide
a fuller explanation to Parliament of how the Government intends
to conduct this periodic review of the ongoing necessity for the
reservation. The UK will report to the UN Committee of Experts
on the Convention in summer 2011 on the implementation of the
Convention by the UK. We hope that this will provide a further
opportunity for a full review of all of the reservations entered
by the UK. In light of the obligations in the Convention to involve
disabled people in decision-making, we recommend that any review
should be open for consultation and should actively involve disabled
people and their organisations.
1.66 We reiterate
the view of our predecessor Committee that the broad exemption
for service in the Armed Forces from the protection of the Equality
Act 2010 is disproportionate and unnecessary. We are concerned
that the reservation to the UN Convention is likely to be incompatible
with the object and purpose of the treaty.
55 Schedule 9(4) Back
56
Twelfth Report, 2008-09, UN Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities: Reservation and declaration, HL Paper 70/HC
397, para 55. Back
57
Twenty-sixth Report, 2008-09, Equality Bill, HL Paper 169/HC
763, para 182. Back
58
Ev 4 Back
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