The right to communicate

Also called Communication rights, Right to freedom of expression, Article 10, Article 21 UNCRPD, Communication Bill of Rights

Where the right to communicate sits in law, from the Human Rights Act to the UN conventions, and what it can and cannot make happen.

What it is

There is no single UK statute called the right to communicate. There is instead a stack of rights that add up to one. Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, given effect in UK law by the Human Rights Act 1998, protects freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to receive and impart information. Article 21 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which the UK ratified in 2009, requires the state to ensure disabled people can exercise that freedom through all forms of communication of their choice, including sign languages, Braille and augmentative and alternative communication. Article 12 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child gives every child the right to be heard.

Beneath the conventions, the Equality Act 2010, the Mental Capacity Act, the Care Act and the Children and Families Act turn the principle into enforceable duties on named bodies.

Who it can help

Everyone, which is the point. For a person who uses AAC, a Deaf person, a person with a learning disability, the stack matters because the argument "she cannot communicate" is met with "then you have not yet given her the means, and you are required to". The founder of Fiducia Talk puts it plainly: communication and free speech are a basic human right and should not be for profit. That is why the board is free.

The UN conventions are not directly enforceable by an individual in a UK court. They shape how the courts read UK law and they are the standard the UK is examined against, but a person needs the domestic duty, the Equality Act adjustment, the Section F provision, the Accessible Information Standard, to get an order. Know the principle; use the statute.

How it works

Rights work at three levels. The convention level sets the standard and the UK is periodically examined against it by the UN committees, which have been critical of UK provision for disabled people more than once. The Human Rights Act level lets a person argue in a UK court that a public body has breached Article 10 or Article 8 (private and family life, which covers the ability to form relationships and take part in community life). The statute level is where individual cases are usually won, because the duties are specific.

Communication rights charters, such as the Communication Bill of Rights used in AAC practice, are not law. They are a statement of what the law implies, in language a school or care home can put on the wall, and they are useful for exactly that.

Getting started

When you next hear "he doesn't communicate" or "she can't be involved", answer with the presumption: everyone communicates, and the question is what the person needs from us. Then reach for the specific duty. In a school, the EHCP or the school's Equality Act duty. In the NHS, the Accessible Information Standard. In social care, the Care Act and the care plan. In a capacity assessment, section 1 of the Mental Capacity Act.

If you support someone, print a communication rights charter and put it up where staff will see it, and ask each new worker which of the rights they are going to make real on their shift. If you are a person who uses AAC, put the words for your rights into your vocabulary: my choice, listen, I need time, ask me.

Where to get help

The Equality and Human Rights Commission explains the Human Rights Act and monitors the UN conventions in Great Britain. Communication Matters campaigns for the right to communicate for people who use AAC. Disability Rights UK covers the UNCRPD. RCSLT speaks for the profession on communication as a right. The Human Rights Act is on legislation.gov.uk.