Have you ever wondered:

How do persons with disabilities, living in a small self-governing island (population 65,000), set about establishing anti-discrimination laws? And why, in a small island, are such laws needed? Thirdly, what on earth has this to do with bakerlaw in Toronto, when the island in question is a British Crown Dependency located the other side of the Atlantic, eighty miles south of England and twenty miles west of France?

Rob Platts from the Guernsey Disability Alliance has written the attached piece (link) about the process leading to Guernsey’s first human rights legislation. The Canadian Human Rights Commission recommended bakerlaw and David Baker in particular to assist in advocating for the adoption of legislation which did not define disability, or alternatively, which used broad and unrestricted terms to define disability so that the legislation would be most beneficial to Guernsey’s citizens.

As indicated in bakerlaw’s recent announcement regarding changes at the firm (link), this is an example of the type or work we hope to be doing more of in the near future. Bakerlaw intends to be involved in the creation of a non-profit center that allows for international cooperation and collaboration on accessibility issues. It is our hope and vision that the centre would engage in inclusion research, teaching and training in collaboration with experts across the world.