Lithuania – IMM situation

IMM name: Monitoring Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities under the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson

IMM type: Equality body

CRPD ratification date: 27 May 2010

IMM legal framework: The draft amendment to Law on Equal Opportunities, prepared on 11 December 2018 (entered into force on 1 July, 2018)

Lithuania ratified the CRPD in 2010. In 2018, after broad consultations with an NGO regarding the Independent Monitoring Mechanism, a draft amendment to the Law on Equal Opportunities was prepared on 11 December 2018 and entered into force on 1 July 2018.

The IMM is an equality body and is not part of a Monitoring Framework consisting of other entities. The IMM is mandated with implementing national monitoring of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities under Article 33(2) of the Convention and monitoring Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities under the Office of the Equal Opportunities. Ombudsperson performs these functions:

• Regularly monitors the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Makes and provides recommendations to the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, state and municipal institutions and establishments, the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman, and other organizations regarding the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Prepare national monitoring reports on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The IMM is also mandated with the following functions:

• Promoting the rights of persons with disabilities, including through education, outreach, the media, training, and capacity building. The Monitoring Committee makes and provides recommendations to the Parliament of Lithuania, the Government of Lithuania, state and municipal institutions and establishments, the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman and other legal persons, other organizations regarding the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, including by receiving, investigating, and resolving complaints, or by mediating conflicts and monitoring activities and reporting. The Monitoring Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has these rights: to invite experts for consultations; to offer the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman to conduct investigations; to form working groups; to provide positions and comments on the compliance of existing legal acts and draft legal acts with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Institutions and their departments must examine the recommendations issued by the Monitoring Committee and inform the Monitoring Committee of the results of the examination and the implementation of the recommendations. The information shall be communicated to the Monitoring Committee without delay after the decisions on the action to be taken in response to the Monitoring Committee’s recommendations have been taken, but no later than 30 days after receipt of the recommendation
• Monitoring the implementation of the CRPD. One of the functions of the Monitoring Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is to monitor the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The IMM undertakes/has undertaken the following activities:

• Evaluating policy, legislative and administrative compliance with the CRPD. The Monitoring Committee has a right to provide positions and comments on the compliance of existing legal acts and draft legal acts with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Offering legal and policy advice to ensure compliance with the CRPD and other relevant international human rights obligations of the State. The Monitoring Committee makes and provides recommendations to the Parliament of Lithuania, the Government of Lithuania, state and municipal institutions and establishments, the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman and other legal persons, other organizations regarding the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Initiating or undertaking research studies on the rights of persons with disabilities, the Monitoring Committee has a right to initiate research studies in the field of the rights of persons with disabilities
• Participating in the preparation of the State party’s periodic reports to the CRPD Committee, the Monitoring Committee regularly monitors the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and prepares national monitoring reports on the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• Cooperating with other domestic mechanisms, as appropriate, such as the Parliament, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI) and Equality Bodies, with the aim to reinforce human rights monitoring and reporting at the national level. The Monitoring Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has these rights: to invite experts for consultations; to offer the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman to conduct investigations and to form working groups
• Liaising with National Mechanisms for Reporting and Follow-Up on matters relating to implementation of the CRPD: Institutions, organizations and their departments must examine the recommendations issued by the Commission and inform the Commission of the results of the examination and the implementation of the recommendations. The information shall be communicated to the Commission without delay after the decisions on the action to be taken in response to the Commission's recommendations have been taken, but no later than 30 days after receipt of the recommendation.

The IMM’s membership is composed of persons with disabilities and representatives of organisations of persons with disabilities. The Monitoring Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities consists of five members, four of them persons with disabilities representing the Associations of Disabled People and one is the representative of the Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson. Furthermore, women with disabilities and their representative organizations participate in the membership and managerial functions of the independent monitoring mechanism. The Associations of Disabled People shall nominate candidates to the Monitoring Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by consensus within the time limit set by the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman. It is important for the Associations of Disabled People to ensure that nominated candidates could represent the interests of persons with disabilities, considering the specificity and diversity of the disability.

The monitoring activities in which persons with disabilities or their representatives’ organizations have been involved include:

• Monitoring of public policies and legislation concerning persons with disabilities
• Monitoring the situation of persons with disabilities in institutions such as residential care centres and other places of institutionalization
• Participating in joint initiatives between the National Preventive Mechanism or the Independent Monitoring Mechanism to monitor places of detention, including prisons, police stations and mental health institutions.

Persons with disabilities take part in the decision-making process of the Independent Monitoring Mechanism; they have a voice and the right to vote. Persons with disabilities attend the decision-making process of the Independent Monitoring Mechanism; they have a voice throughout the deliberations. Persons with disabilities as designated experts on disability are invited and/or hired to support specific programmes in the Independent Monitoring Mechanism. Persons with disabilities monitoring their rights may submit findings or allegations of human rights violations to the Independent Monitoring Mechanism. Persons with disabilities identifying themselves as self-advocates are invited to join specific monitoring activities by the Independent Monitoring Mechanism. The Monitoring Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities consists of five members, four of them are persons with disabilities representing the Associations of Disabled People and one is the representative of Office of the Equal Opportunities Ombudsperson. If it is needed the Monitoring Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities can invite experts for consultations as well as to form working groups. The members of the Monitoring Committee shall be paid in accordance with the procedure established by the Law on Remuneration of Employees of State and Municipal Institutions and Commissions of the Republic of Lithuania.

Note: If you wish to rectify or provide more information regarding your IMM, please contact ohchr-CRPDIMM@un.org