Cap. 627 Art. 2Interpretation.                 Cap. 319.  Cap. 413.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

"Convention" or "UNCRPD" means the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted by the General Assembly by its resolution 61/106 of 13 December 2006 that entered into force on 3 May 2008, and which the Government of Malta signed on 30 March 2007 and ratified on 10 October 2012;

"DDI" means the Directorate for Disability Issues established in accordance with article 5;

"disability" shall be construed within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention;

"ENGAGE" means the civil society participation mechanism established within DDI in accordance with article 6;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for disability and the development of this sector, and includes any person duly authorised by the said Minister to act in his name under this Act;

"Optional Protocol" means the Optional Protocol to the Convention, which the Government of Malta signed on 30 March 2007 and ratified on 10 October 2012; "substantive Convention rights" means those rights as set out in Articles 5 to 30 (both inclusive) of the Convention, which Articles are reproduced in the Second Schedule, and are enforceable subject to the Declaration and Reservations made by the Government of Malta on the signing of the Convention on 30 March 2007, as amended from time to time, and reproduced in the Third Schedule:

Provided that the substantive Convention rights shall not be understood to mean fundamental rights and freedoms in terms of the Constitution, or Human Rights and Fundamental

Freedoms in terms of the European Convention Act;

"UNCRPD Committee" means the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities established under Article 34 of the Convention;

"UNCRPD National Coordination Mechanism" means the national coordination mechanism within Government as established by DDI in accordance with article 5;

"UNCRPD Redress Panel" means the UNCRPD Redress

Panel established in terms of article 33B of the Equal Opportunities (Persons with Disability) Act.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, in interpreting the substantive Convention rights:

(i) the definitions contained in Article 2 of the Convention, as reproduced in the First Schedule, shall be applicable;

(ii) "discrimination on the basis of disability", while having the same meaning as assigned to it in Article 2 of the Convention, shall also include, but not be limited to, the interpretative guidance set out in the Fourth Schedule;

(iii) the General Comments issued by the UNCRPD Committee shall be included in the Fifth Schedule, as amended from time to time, and shall constitute interpretative guidance when interpreting the substantive Convention rights;

(iv) the UNCRPD Redress Panel, the Administrative Review Tribunal and the Civil Courts shall, in determining any decision on any claim brought before them, avail themselves of a margin of appreciation that considers the national circumstances at any point in time, in relation to the interpretation of the substantive Convention rights and their application.