Taiwan incorporated the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD or the Convention) into its national legal system in 2014, in the form of a national law that is referred to as the Implementation Act. At its core, the CRPD is based on the concept of substantive equality, which views failure to promote accessibility or make reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities as discrimination. The concept is at significant odds with Taiwan's current legal system and its legal doctrine of equality. As a result, the government of Taiwan is facing immense challenges in implementing the Convention, largely due to a lack of expertise relating to the core concept of the Convention. This paper details the main problems in implementing the CRPD in Taiwan, using the regulations for judicial services examinations as an example. These regulations in effect exclude examinees who have a high level of visual impairment, hearing impairment or physical disability from the core aspects of their legal career. This paper makes reference to the parliamentary implementation project relating to the Convention to demonstrate why authorities in Taiwan are mischaracterizing their obligation towards to fully realize human rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons with disabilities in accordance with the CRPD and the CRPD Implementation Act. The paper shows that the services present in the law to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities offer the authorities an important reference point for meeting their obligation to implement CRPD.
