Centre for Disability Law and Policy
Welcome to the Centre for Disability Law and Policy
The CDLP is engaged in many international and European research networks, including the Marie Curie Initial Training Network DREAM, and it partners with a range of national research bodies on disability in Ireland. Within the University, it collaborates actively with the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre and the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology to advance a coherent lifecycle approach to policy development within the Institute for Lifecourse & Society.
We place our research at the disposal of the disability community in Ireland and abroad, and we warmly welcome feedback and suggestions.
Education
The Centre for Disability Law & Policy specialises in international & comparative disability law and public policy. It has a particular interest in the activities of the United Nations & disability, the European Union & disability, and the Council of Europe & disability. It also has a special interest in specific themes, including development aid & disability, eAccessibility, independent living & de-institutionalisation, non-discrimination law & disability, and Irish disability law reform.
We offer a PhD in Disability Law & Policy and an LLM in International and Comparative Disability Law and Policy, both available in full- or part-time modes.
International Disability Law Summer School
The Centre of Disability Law and Policy hosts its International Disability Summer School in June every year. Registration opens in January. To keep up to date on details and themes, click here.
Research
The formation of the CDLP coincides with one of the most intensive periods of disability law reform in Ireland and internationally. The adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007 should help accelerate this worldwide trend and give it further direction. The disability action plans of both the European Union and the Council of Europe help frame the policy choices facing Ireland and other European Member States. And the Irish Government’s National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025–2030 provides a clear strategic direction and an unprecedented opportunity for rational developments in the field. The main challenge ahead is implementation, and the Centre will produce research that contributes to that process.
We place our research at the disposal of the disability community in Ireland and abroad, and we warmly welcome feedback and suggestions.
