Disability Rights Commission Act

The Disability Rights Commission Act led to the formation of the Disability Rights Commission, or DRC, and described its function and limitations. The DRC was created by the British Parliament in 1999 in order to stem discrimination against the disabled. The DRC was empowered to accomplish this by investigating allegations of discrimination among other means.

• In 2007, the Disability Rights Commission was replaced by the Equal and Human Rights Commission which governs all equality law, meaning it is not limited to handling issues with the disabled, but covers racial, gender and sexual orientation discrimination as well. The DRC, however, dealt solely with the disabled and was one of three major commissions that handled various forms of discrimination.
  
  


• As dictated by the Disability Rights Commission Act, the core services that the DRC provided were legal services, media work, case-working and policy. The aim was to  ensure that the disabled have their civil rights protected. The DRC did this by investigating allegations that the rights of the disabled had been infringed upon. They also created and reviewed the codes of practice to which businesses and other entities adhered.
  
  


• Those who worked for the DRC when it was still a functioning body were not employees of the government even though they were paid from public funds. The fact that they were not civil servants provided the Commission with “independent body” status.
  
  


• The Disability Rights Commission Act also ensured that a major aspect of the DRC’s mission was to change the culture in England towards those who were perceived as handicapped. The commission promoted tolerance and understanding of the various disabilities, working as a kind of public relations service.
  
  


• The DRCs services on behalf of the disabled were limited in one major respect: the cases that they mediated. The DRC did not include employer/employee mediation as a part of its services; rather, its main goal was to ensure that the disabled had equal rights to goods and services.