Article 12
Equal recognition before the law
1. States Parties reaffirm that persons with disabilities have the right to recognition everywhere as
persons before the law.
2. States Parties shall recognize that persons with disabilities enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis
with others in all aspects of life.
3. States Parties shall take appropriate measures to provide access by persons with disabilities to the
support they may require in exercising their legal capacity.
4. States Parties shall ensure that all measures that relate to the exercise of legal capacity provide for
appropriate and effective safeguards to prevent abuse in accordance with international human rights
law. Such safeguards shall ensure that measures relating to the exercise of legal capacity respect the
rights, will and preferences of the person, are free of conflict of interest and undue influence, are
proportional and tailored to the person's circumstances, apply for the shortest time possible and are
subject to regular review by a competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial body. The
safeguards shall be proportional to the degree to which such measures affect the person's rights and
interests.
5. Subject to the provisions of this article, States Parties shall take all appropriate and effective
measures to ensure the equal right of persons with disabilities to own or inherit property, to control
their own financial affairs and to have equal access to bank loans, mortgages and other forms of
financial credit, and shall ensure that persons with disabilities are not arbitrarily deprived of their
property.
Article 13
Access to justice
1. States Parties shall ensure effective access to justice for persons with disabilities on an equal basis
with others, including through the provision of procedural and age-appropriate accommodations, in
order to facilitate their effective role as direct and indirect participants, including as witnesses, in all
legal proceedings, including at investigative and other preliminary stages.
2. In order to help to ensure effective access to justice for persons with disabilities, States Parties shall
promote appropriate training for those working in the field of administration of justice, including police
and prison staff.
Article 14
Liberty and security of person
1. States Parties shall ensure that persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others:
(a) Enjoy the right to liberty and security of person;
(b) Are not deprived of their liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily, and that any deprivation of liberty is in
conformity with the law, and that the existence of a disability shall in no case justify a deprivation of
liberty.
2. States Parties shall ensure that if persons with disabilities are deprived of their liberty through any
process, they are, on an equal basis with others, entitled to guarantees in accordance with
international human rights law and shall be treated in compliance with the objectives and principles of
the present Convention, including by provision of reasonable accommodation.
Article 15
Freedom from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
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