Justice, Rights and Inclusion for People with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

[Excerpt] Adequate laws in the area of legal incapacitation and guardianship are of fundamental importance, especially for adults with intellectual disability. For them it means recognizing their individual rights to self determination. It also signifies a move away from treating the person who lacks capacity within an old-fashioned model of care, based solely on a medical diagnosis. When present laws on capacity and/or the way they are implemented are examined against the backdrop of the human rights based model of "inclusion within the society" we begin to see their inadequacies.