Προστασία ατόμων με ειδικές ανάγκες

Abstract

The present study treats one of the most important social issues of our time, the social protection of disabled people. Disabled people constitute a social group which, at least as far as Greece is concerned, has been the object of a systematic study and action only during the past few years. A significant innovation was the Constitutional command regarding the right of disabled persons to enjoy measures reassuring their autonomy, their integration into the labor market and, in general, their participation in the social, economic and political life of the country. International and Community Contracts adopted by the most important international organizations in the field of social protection include specific principles and provisions, which can be also translated as tools for shaping a policy for the protection of disabled persons and especially of disabled children. Through the Amsterdam Treaty, the European Union prioritized the elaboration of a “Charter of Fundamental Rights”, which was approved by the Treaty of Nice, establishing that it is necessary to reinforce the protection of the fundamental rights under the light of social changes, social progress and scientific and technological developments. In the said Charter, which is a text of constitutional nature, reference is made to the equal integration of disabled people. The Constitutional consolidation of the social rights of disabled persons constitutes the theoretical foundation of social protection, setting the legal basis for their social integration. The social protection of the disabled persons, which is consolidated by the systematic approach of Constitutional article 21 par. 2, 3 and by the innovative par. 6, is placed within the framework of a uniform right to social welfare, by which several individual benefits result as regards disabled persons. Thus, the state is explicitly obliged, by virtue of the principle of proportional equality, to introduce a diversified behavior in favor of vulnerable or less favored population groups, among which disabled people. Other supplementary constitutional provisions regarding the social protection of disabled people can also be found in articles 2 par. 1 and 5 par.1 respectively of the Constitution. It could be sustained that, through these articles, social protection is granted to disabled people, even though not explicitly. The idea of respecting the personality and value of patients as human beings, which is included in these articles, has been a decisive element which significantly affected the new regulation in the Greek law regarding the protection of people suffering from mental, physical or other disabilities through the institution of legal assistance. The general right to free development of the personality set forth in article 5, par. 1 of the Constitution is directly related to the right to the social and cultural development of the human personality, which aims at offering to the citizens goods and services guaranteeing the equal participation of each and every person, including disabled persons. Article 2, par. 1 of the Hellenic Constitution acknowledges respect and value and the development of their personality, in order to participate and be equally integrated in the society. Constitutional provisions on disabled employment and in the benefit support system.