The bill was based on the provisions in the draft National Disability Policy and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The draft bill was prepared by the National Law Reform Commission through outsourcing. The Attorney General’s Office sought the views of Government agencies before the bill was submitted to Parliament. Prior to the submission of this bill by the Government, Parliament had accepted a similar bill submitted by MP Riyaz Rasheed on provision of financial assistance for people with special needs. The Parliament accepted both bills and decided to deliberate on them simultaneously. As the debate on these bills progressed in the Parliament it was realized that the concerned civil servants were not adequately consulted. Hence a meeting was conducted on 03 August 2009 by HRCM to obtain the views of Ministry of Health and Family, NGOs and other key stakeholders. All stakeholder comments were obtained in writing and a summary of the comments were submitted to the relevant Parliamentary Committee. Even though the Committee was expected to propose several amendments to the original bill based on the stakeholder comments, this did not happen. Following the debate in the Parliament the title of the bill was changed to “Protecting the Rights of People with Special Needs and Providing Financial Assistance”. The law was passed by the Parliament on 21 December 2009 and sent for ratification by the President. ACTIVITIES ADDRESSING RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES The bill on “Protecting the Rights of People with Special Needs and Providing Financial ... 34 Assistance” was returned by the President to the Parliament on 05 January 2010 for reconsideration. In a letter to the Speaker of the Parliament, the President emphasised that it was crucial to amend the bill in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The Attorney General noted that the bill did not contain some of the rights stipulated in the convention and advised the President that the bill contained articles that contradicted provisions in the convention as well as other international standards. The Minister of Health and Family advised the President that the bill contains several provisions that might lead to socio-economic problems and difficulties in implementation. 4.3 Sector laws There are provisions in existing laws that are relevant to rights of persons with disabilities and services provided to them. These include: