Since 2015, with the enactment of the Statute of Persons with Disabilities, interdiction has had a major competitor: supported decision-making. This is due to a change regarding capacity in the Code of Civil Procedure.
Before the Statute, the law considered absolutely incapable those who, due to illness or mental disability, lacked the necessary discernment to perform acts of civil life, and those who, even for temporary reasons, could not express their will. In other words, many people with disabilities were unnecessarily interdicted.
With the change brought about by the Statute, only minors under 16 years of age are considered absolutely incapable and the figure of supported decision-making was also created as an alternative to interdiction, which is a more arbitrary and restrictive measure.
Supported decision-making is an optional legal instrument that guarantees greater security and autonomy for people with disabilities. Unlike interdiction, it is an action taken by the person with a disability themselves to appoint trusted individuals to support them in decision-making regarding civil matters.
Supported decision-making truly represents progress in guaranteeing the right to exercise one’s legal capacity on equal terms with others.
