Structural ableism and the ECtHR: A critical examination of the court’s accessibility jurisprudence

Accessibility is a fundamental tenet of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (‘CRPD’). By mandating the removal of accessibility barriers in the physical environment and the dismantling of structural forces that perpetuate inaccessibility, the CRPD seeks to foster the inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in society. Yet, despite the robust accessibility standards of the CRPD, accessibility has been largely overlooked in the disability jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (‘ECtHR’). This article critically analyses the absence of accessibility in ECtHR jurisprudence from a structural perspective. It contends that only by framing accessibility as a structural issue can we meaningfully engage with the lack of accessibility for people with disabilities. The article develops a conceptual framework of structural ableism and argues that the recognition and application of that framework is essential for the ECtHR to acknowledge the structural forces that create and sustain physical inaccessibility for people with disabilities. This would enable the Court to align more closely with the CRPD’s accessibility standards. The study concludes by proposing four fundamental steps to bridge the current gulf between the CRPD standard on accessibility and the ECtHR jurisprudence.