Abstract
Background: This article examines the international legal implications of destroying accessibility infrastructure in schools during armed conflict. International humanitarian law protects schools as civilian objects. International human rights law protects the individual rights affected by the consequences of armed conflict. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides specific guarantees concerning accessibility, inclusive education, and the protection of persons with disabilities in situations of risk. These bodies of law have distinct scopes of application and duty-bearers. Their application to the same attack may nevertheless reveal a legal characterisation gap where the specific consequences of damage to accessibility infrastructure for students with disabilities remain unidentified. Elevators, ramps, accessible evacuation routes, and other accessibility features may determine students' ability to access education and evacuate safely. Method: This study employs doctrinal legal research based on the analysis of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law. It also applies the comparative legal method and systemic treaty interpretation. The analysis distinguishes the scope, obligations, and duty-bearers under the relevant bodies of international law. It then examines their relationship in cases involving damage to accessibility infrastructure. International treaties, international court jurisprudence, the practice of international human rights treaty bodies, and academic scholarship provide the legal basis for developing and assessing the proposed criterion. Results and Conclusions: This study identifies a legal characterisation gap in assessing disability-specific consequences arising from damage to accessibility infrastructure during armed conflict. It develops functional dependency as an interpretative and analytical criterion. The criterion identifies the objective relationship between the exercise of a protected individual right and the continued functioning of a particular infrastructure element. Its application enables the identification of the specific consequences of infrastructure damage for persons who depend on its continued functioning. This assessment may inform the identification of victims, the evaluation of evidence, and the selection of appropriate remedies. The criterion also provides a basis for documenting functional harm and strengthening access to justice for students with disabilities affected by attacks on schools.