CRPD, 28 August 2020, N.L. v. Sweden, Comm. No. 60/2019

Non-refoulement and access to health care: A first positioning by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Abstract

In this decision, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ruled for the first time on the principle of non-refoulement, in relation to the deportation of a mentally ill woman to her country of origin where she claimed she could not receive the necessary health care. The Committee considers that since the author proved that her condition was ‘severe and life-threatening’ without adequate treatment, the returning State had to assess whether health care was available and accessible – which it failed to do. Although generous, the decision once again lays emphasis on the procedure to the detriment of the substance of the law.