BOOSTING GUARDIANSHIP AS AN APPROPRIATE MEANS TO ALIGN ARTICLE 12 OF THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES WITH THE SPANISH LEGAL SYSTEM

Abstract

Everything indicates that the upcoming legislative reform bill to align article 12 of the Convention with our legal system, regarding the exercise of legal personality of persons with disabilities on an equal footing with others, will focus on instituting guardianship against the will of a large portion of the society. For several reasons, we believe that guardianship is especially the appropriate legal concept for carrying on the alignment of the above mentioned article of the convention with our legal system: because of the great similarity of conservatorship with the support trustee in the Italian legal system (the legal concept which has been set as a model for adapting the convention to the sectors disagreeing with the current system of disability); because the Convention recognize the institution of guardianship in many states party without compelling them to eliminate it; because guardianship may apply both in the personal scope and in matters relating to property rights of the person who may require it; finally, because of the recent case law regarding our Supreme Court.