Roundtable on Legal Capacity and Supported Decision-Making

A Roundtable on Legal Capacity and Supported Decision-Making took place on 23^rd November in the European Parliament.

At the meeting, organised by Inclusion Europe’s Working Group on Human Rights and Non-Discrimination under the auspices of Olga Sehnalová MEP (Social Democrats), representatives from national administrations, EU institutions, governmental and non-governmental organisations met to discuss one of the most important topics for people with intellectual disabilities and their families.

Legal capacity is indeed a necessary precondition for self-determination and full enjoyment of a whole range rights, including the right to vote or get married.  Even though Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities establish that governments have to ensure that all people with disabilities enjoy their legal capacity, and that they have to provide them with adequate support to exercise this right, a considerable number of people with intellectual disabilities experience limitation or deprivation of their legal capacity.

During the meeting, participating stakeholders exchanged concrete experiences and good practices, and emphasised the need for:

• Capacity-building to support the self-advocacy movement
• Mainstreaming the provisions of reasonable accommodation in all areas of legislation
• Collaboration between support services and legal professionals, allowing for adequate assessment of quality and extent of support
• Establishment of safeguards such as trust and support network

As pointed out by Inclusion Europe’s President Maureen Piggot, disability shall never be a reason for incapacitation and models based on principles of full personhood, self-determination and individual support as needed are required. “It is of outmost importance to challenge the prejudice of incapacity and change it to presumption of capacity” Ms. Piggot said.

Find out more information here.