An Empowering Dependency: Exploring Support for the Excercise of Legal Capacity
Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, Volume 18, Issue 1, 2014
15 Pages Posted: 15 May 2016 Last revised: 29 Jun 2016
Date Written: May 12, 2016
Abstract
The Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities specifies that people with disabilities have the right to enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others and an accompanying duty of states parties to provide access to support for exercising legal capacity. This article uses moral philosophy to ground a discussion of personhood and supported decision-making. It discusses the cognitive prosthesis model as a possible structure for supported decision-making and identifies the potential strengths and weaknesses of such a system. In particular, it examines the effect dependency relationships will have on supported decision-making. It concludes with four principles for safeguarding the relationship of supported decision-making.
Keywords: legal capacity, personhood, supported decision-making, dependency, moral philosophy, CRPD
JEL Classification: K00, K39
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation