MDAC News Bulletin

23 January 2008, Brno (Czech Republic) and Budapest (Hungary): The Mental Disability Advocacy Center (MDAC) and the League of Human Rights (LIGA) have praised a decision by the Czech Constitutional Court that depriving a person of his or her legal capacity - the right to make one's own decisions - is a violation of specific human rights and as a result has identified that there are serious weaknesses in the Czech guardianship process.

The decision came as the result of a case brought before the Czech Constitutional Court by MDAC and LIGA. The case concerned a woman who lived independently in her own flat but who was deprived of her legal capacity and placed under guardianship- as a result of having difficulties in managing finances.

The result of the guardianship action was that the woman was denied her right to privacy and family life, the right to vote, and the right to be treated equally.
The deprivation of her legal capacity was criticised by the court on two main grounds - that the case demonstrated the failure of the Czech judiciary to consider individual and specific abilities of people with disabilities and that the judicial decisions were based on an unquestioned acceptance of expert opinion.

The lawyer for MDAC and LIGA, David Zahumenský, said this was not an isolated case. "This is evidence of systematic failure within the guardianship process. Where people with intellectual or mental health disabilities need support in making specific decisions, they should be offered that support rather than simply put under the control of a guardian and deprived of the right to make any decision at all."
A national plan for support and integration of people with disabilities which should have been implemented by the end of last year has still not taken effect, and so MDAC and LIGA have called on the Government to implement legislative changes immediately.