HCA Vanadzor position on RA institute to declare adults incapable
11:57, June 8, 2015 | News, Other news
The target areas of the HCA Vanadzor activities include the protection of the rights of persons with mental health problems. Within its activities in this field in 2007, 2009 and 2013, the Organization conducted human rights monitoring in the RA psychoneurologic facilities, made relevant reports and submitted proposals to relevant agencies. In 2014, the Organization presented an alternative report on the compliance by the RA with the requirements of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. One of the actions in the National Strategy on Human Rights Protection approved on February 27, 2014 by the RA Government Decree 303-N concerns the specification of the grounds for declaring a person with mental health problems incapable and development of differentiated criteria for incapability assessment. Recognizing a person’s legal capacity serves as an essential condition for him/her to be entitled to act as a subject of law. By being declared partially capable or incapable, a person is deprived of being a full member of the society. Instead of acting as a full subject of social relations, he/she becomes an object in regulations of public life or legal relations and is dependent on the decisions of others. Based on human dignity, equality before the law and other universal human rights principles, the HCA Vanadzor conducted a study and developed relevant proposals to replace the institute of declaring adults incapable by an institute of full exercise of a person’s rights and protection of the rights and legal interests of others that would not restrict a person’s rights in a disproportionate manner. Please see below the HCA Vanadzor position and recommendations on the RA institute of declaring adults incapable. This Position comes to highlight the necessity to introduce a mechanism in support of eliminating the institute of incapacity, exercising the rights of persons in vulnerable situation, protecting their legal interests and helping them to fulfill their duties and to develop an action plan for reforms in this field.