The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Ilias Bantekas FCI Arb is Professor of International Law at Brunel and Northwestern (HBKU) Universities and a senior fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) of the University of London. He acts as consultant to various inter-governmental organizations, such as UNDP, UN special procedures, the Council of Europe, and the EU. He also advises state entities, law firms, and NGOs in most fields of international law, human rights, international development law, and arbitration, and is regularly appointed as arbitrator in international disputes. Key books include International Human Rights Law and Practice (CUP,2nd ed, 2016), International Law Concentrate (OUP, 3rd ed, 2017), Sovereign Debt and Human Rights (OUP 2018), and The International Criminal Court and Africa (OUP 2017). Michael Ashley Stein holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. from Cambridge Universit. Co-founder and Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability and a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School for over a decade, Stein holds an Extraordinary Professorship at the University of Pretoria's Centre for Human Rights, and a visiting professorship at the Free University of Amsterdam. Stein was previously Professor (and Cabell Professor) at William & Mary Law School, and also taught at New York University and Stanford Law schools. An internationally recognised expert on disability law and policy, Stein participated in the drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, works with disabled peoples' organizations around the world, actively consults with governments on their disability laws and policies, advises a number of UN bodies and national human rights institutions, and has brought landmark litigation. Dimitris Anastasiou is Associate Professor of Special Education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He holds B.S. degrees in psychology, sociology, and elementary education, an M.Sc. in special education and school psychology, and a Ph.D. in both special education and school psychology. His publications and scholarly interests include philosophical approaches to disability, disability rights, educational and disability policy, comparative special education, co-teaching, cultural issues with implications for educational policy, and educational interventions in reading and writing. Anastasiou has served as co-editor of the Journal of International Special Needs Education (JISNE), and as a reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals. He is currently associate editor of the JISNE.