Professor Delia Ferri has published the Edited Volume Federalism and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Implementation of the CRPD in Federal Systems and Its Implications with Hart for their series Hart Studies in Comparative Public Law on 13 July 2023. The work is an editorial collaboration with Professor Francesco Palermo (Eurac Research, Bolzano/ Bozen and University of Verona, Italy) and Professor Giuseppe Martinico (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy).
Bringing together expertise in disability law, federalism and constitutional law, the three editors set out to add to the growing literature on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by adopting a federal perspective. Exploring the relationship between federalism and disability rights, the volume recalls Article 4(5) CRPD which postulates that obligations ‘extend to all parts of federal States without any limitations or exceptions’ and Article 33 CRPD which addresses the significance of intergovernmental coordination for the full realisation of the enshrined rights, situating the research within larger discourse on how international human rights treaties impact on federal systems.
The volume opens with a foreword by Professor Cheryl Saunders of Melbourne Law School (University of Melbourne, Australia), a renowned expert in comparative constitutional law as well as federal studies. Following these remarks, the editors recount the core aims of the volume and the relevant conceptual, methodological and theoretical aspects before 14 dedicated chapters discuss the implementation of the CRPD in various federal systems around the world, including Germany, Canada, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, the UK and Italy. By utilising a non-formalistic and functional approach to federalism, the volume captures diverse case studies from different legal traditions and practices and various constitutional designs offering a differentiated illustration of how the ‘transformative potential’ of the CRPD has also ‘transformed’ the interrelations between national and sub-national entities in the States Parties considered.
Professor Delia Ferri’s research and expertise lie primarily in areas of European Union Law, Disability Law and Cultural Diversity. She recently combined these research fields in her PI-led research project ‘Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity through European Union Law: Exploring New Paths’ (DANCING) which is funded by a European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant (Grant Agreement No 864182). Professor Ferri is also Co-Director of the Assisting Living and Learning (ALL) Institute at Maynooth University and a newly appointed member of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) Scientific Committee for the term of 2023-2028.