Misure di austerità e discriminazione sulla base della disabilità. una recente decisione della Corte di Strasburgo

On several occasions, theausterity measures implemented by many European countries following the well-known economic crisis of 2008 have come under thescrutiny of the Strasbourg Court for their alleged violation of the fundamental rights enshrined in the European Convention of Human Rights. In particular, in the recent decision J.d. and A. v. united Kingdom the European Court, for the first time, condemnedthe UK’s austeritypolicy on housing subsidiesas discriminatory against the victims of domestic violence, considering their vulnerable status. However, this ruling also represents a missed opportunity for the Strasbourg judges to guarantee the same protection to anothercategory deserving an enhanced protection,namely persons with disabilities and, by association, their caregivers. Against this background, this paper focuses on the “missing piece” in the legal reasoning of the European Court, while attempting an analysis of thecase in light of the principle of non-discrimination on the ground on disability