ABSTRACT
In Estonian law, legal capacity is regulated in the General Part of the Civil Code Act (hereinafter GPCCA). Under the GPCCA, legal capacity is divided into passive and active legal capacity. Passive legal capacity is defined as the capacity of a human being to have civil rights and perform civil obligations. The most significant change concerning active legal capacity in Estonian law regarding people with mental disabilities occurred when the 1994 GPCCA was replaced with the current GPCCA. The current GPCCA was adopted in 2002, and although it has been subject to numerous changes throughout the last two decades, the approach to active legal capacity has remained much the same. The first Estonian GPCCA was adopted in 1994. In 2004, after the introduction of significant changes in the GPCCA concerning active legal capacity in 2002, and when Estonia was about to join the European Union, the existing system was scrutinized by an Estonian lawyer and human rights advocate E. Pilt.
