Over the past two decades, there has been increasing recognition of the ways in which disabled children and adults have been denied human and civil rights that others take for granted. In the year 2000, the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force. This book reviews the implications of the Act for disabled people. The book provides: an overview of key policy and legislative developments in the UK in relation to disabled children and adults in the post war period; an outline of the European Convention on Human Rights, The Human Rights Act 1998 and related procedures; an account of the ways in which disabled people's human rights have increasingly become a matter of concern and the implications of the Human Rights Act in relation to specific issues; a debate about the ways in which public bodies and practitioners within them can engage positively with the provisions of the Human Rights Act to develop better practice. Disabled people and human rights will be of interest to both disabled people themselves and organisations representing their interests, professionals whose work brings them into contact with disabled people, and students of social work, social care, disability studies and law.

"This learned and inspring book should be recommended to everyone involved in the human rights of disabled people, including those readers outside European and Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions." Interights Bulletin
"A good review of social policy and legislation issues, well backed by case examples." Ruben Martin, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kent
"This book is essential reading for parents, disabled young people and the organisations which work with them. By recognising that the exclusion of disabled children is a human rights issue - we can adopt strategies now to ensure that all disabled people are enabled to fully participate in society in the future." Francine Bates, Contact a Family

Luke Clements is a solicitor and Senior Research Fellow at Cardiff Law School and Associate Fellow at the University of Warwick. Janet Read is a qualified social worker and Senior Lecturer in the School of Health and Social Studies at the University of Warwick.