Recital (36) · Directive (EU) 2026/1472

(36)The Union and the Member States are parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities^note (the ‘UN Convention’) and are bound by obligations set out in the UN Convention to the extent of their respective competences. Under Article 13 of the UN Convention the States Parties are obliged to ensure effective access to justice for persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others, hence the need to ensure accessibility and provide reasonable accommodation and procedural accommodation, so that victims with disabilities enjoy their rights as victims on equal basis with others. Article 2 of the UN Convention defines ‘reasonable accommodation’ as ‘necessary and appropriate modification and adjustments not imposing a disproportionate or undue burden, where needed in a particular case, to ensure to persons with disabilities the enjoyment or exercise on an equal basis with others of all human rights and fundamental freedoms’. The accessibility requirements for products and services set out in Annex I to Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council^note can facilitate the implementation of the UN Convention and ensure that the victims’ rights laid down in Directive 2012/29/EU are accessible for persons with disabilities. Article 13 of the UN Convention refers to the provision of ‘procedural accommodation’ as a means to facilitate the effective participation of persons with disabilities in criminal proceedings, without, however, providing for a definition of the concept. Useful guidelines in this regard can be found in the 2020 International Principles and Guidelines on Access to Justice for Persons with Disabilities by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. According to those Guidelines, ‘procedural accommodation’ means all necessary and appropriate modifications and adjustments in the context of access to justice, where needed in a particular case, to ensure the participation of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others. It can include intermediaries or facilitators, procedural adjustments and communication support. Procedural accommodation is not limited by the concept of disproportionate or undue burden.