The Supreme Court and the duty of inclusion: a clear and unequivocal vector of the right to higher education in BrazilABSTRACT
The UN’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was received in the Brazilian legal system as the equivalent of an amendment to the Federal Constitution, which has deeply modified the protection given to this special group so far. Law No. 13,146/2015 (the Disabled Person’s Statute) has created several provisions aiming for the inclusion of this group. Among them, the obligation to all schools, in any level, to accept disabled people, without any refusal right, as well as not charging any extra fee for such acceptance. In response, the Confederação Nacional dos Estabelecimentos de Ensino (Schooling Institute’s National Confederation, CONFENEN) decided to bring this matter to judicial courts. The decision of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court, as a controlling authority (with binding effect decision)), quashed any doubts about this issue, establishing a guideline to be followed by any and all entities.
Keywords: Deficiency; Inclusion; UN Convention; Supreme Federal Court; Inclusion obligation.