ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses an overview of the rights included in Article 12, its drafting history, the CRPD Committee's interpretation of Article 12, as well as its interpretation by other international organizations and regional human courts. It examines the controversy surrounding what eventually became the final version of Article 12. Article 12, therefore, offers a new model of support to replace the more traditional substitute decision-making process that is enshrined within guardianship laws for decades in many countries throughout the world. The chapter examines that the countries like Finland, Australia and, Canada have continued to assert their objection to universal legal capacity in their reservations, understandings, and declarations on Article 12. It presents the Reservations, understandings, and declarations (RUD) that have been filed to date with respect to Article 12. The chapter believes that the implications of these RUDs, and how far such RUDs may go before they may be invalidated as 'incompatible with the object and purpose' of Article 12.