The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities represents a significant pillar for the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities internationally.

Adopted in 2006 and ratified by over 150 countries worldwide, including Italy and the European Union, this convention emphasizes the importance of ensuring adequate protections and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities, enabling them to fully participate in community life in all its aspects.

The Convention aims to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by persons with disabilities.

It also underscores the importance of respecting individual dignity, the autonomy of persons with disabilities, and their right to make decisions concerning their own lives.

 

In particular, Article 12 of the Convention asserts the "equal recognition before the law" of persons with disabilities, meaning that they "enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life."

 

The widely embraced motto internationally is indeed "Maximum autonomy, minimal intervention possible": legal protection measures in every state should provide the vulnerable person with ample autonomy, seeking to impose limits only in areas of life where the individual is unable to manage independently and, thus, requires external support.

Italian law

 

 

In 2004, Law No. 6 introduced into our legal system the institution of the support administrator to protect all those who, due to an illness or disability, are no longer able, or only partially able, to safeguard their personal and/or economic interests.

Guardianship complements two other pre-existing legal institutions before 2004: guardianship and incapacitation.

Provincial Law

Now, the Province of Bolzano can also be counted among the various regions and provinces in Italy that have chosen to enact a law promoting legal guardianship.

During the session on July 5, 2018, the Provincial Council of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano approved the law promoting legal guardianship, providing concrete forms of support to those who take on the role of voluntary legal guardian for third parties.

The Legal Guardianship Association expresses full satisfaction for this important milestone, achieved after intense years of work together with the Federation for Social Services and Healthcare. As envisaged by both entities, the law aims to establish a system for the legal protection of vulnerable individuals, aimed at strengthening the integrated process of institutional and professional interventions to promote the dignity and protection of the rights of weak individuals and support for families.

Of utmost importance for voluntary legal guardians are the provisions of the law for support from the Province, including insurance coverage for civil liability against third parties, reimbursement of expenses incurred by the guardian in carrying out the mandate, and any allowance granted by the judge if the beneficiary does not have sufficient financial means.