Fundamental Rights And Access To Justice For People With Intellectual Disabilities: A View From Latin America

Poémape L.A.A.; Gonzales G.F.L.; Quezada N.I.C.; García-García E.E. · International Journal of Drug Delivery Technology (2026) · DOI: 10.25258/ijddt.16.13s.10

Resumen

The right to access justice is essential to safeguard and ensure other human rights, especially for people with intellectual disabilities, who face various systematic, regulatory and cultural barriers that hinder their real exercise. In the Latin American region, despite the regulatory improvements that have been promoted by various international human rights agreements and legal reforms at the local level, there are still large discrepancies between the formal recognition of these rights and their effective application in justice systems. The purpose of this article is to examine how people with intellectual disabilities access justice from a fundamental rights perspective in Latin America, based on the social model of disability. The research was carried out with a qualitative approach, through analytical and descriptive design, using documentary and bibliographic analysis methods from relevant academic and regulatory sources. The findings show that physical, procedural, communicative, and cultural barriers continue to exist in judicial systems, as well as limitations in the recognition of legal capacity and in the application of reasonable accommodations. It is concluded that to ensure real access to justice for people with intellectual disabilities, a structural change is necessary that promotes the comprehensive adoption of the social model of disability, the creation of inclusive public policies and the strengthening of judicial systems under a human rights approach.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de Barranca; Universidad César Vallejo