紀要論文

イギリスの成年後見制度にみる市民社会の構想

The concept of civil society in the Mental Capacity Act 2005

jpn

00229741

https://doi.org/10.15002/00007107

法政大学経済学部学会

78

3

341

375

2011-02-25

Version of Record

In this paper, I will explore the new roles of families, Civil Society and the State in the contemporary Adult Guardianship System. In the last 10 years, a theoretical change—most importantly, from the "substituted judgment" approach to the "supported decision-making" approach—has been emerging in many places such as the UK, Canada and Australia, and more countries are now trying to follow their example. The importance of empowering people with limited mental capacity towards their own decision-making is now becoming recognised in many jurisdictions. In this culture of new individualism, families occupy different places than before. It is now considered that families exist outside the realm of the person him/herself. This means that families are not automatically treated as natural advocates of other family members simply because of their relation, by birth or marriage, to the person. Families should be chosen by the person formally, or they should be given legal authority to provide support to the person as far as they do not infringe on the autonomy or the dignity of the person concerned. It might be said that, under the contemporary Adult Guardianship System, families can be a part of the caring society which maintains an alertness to the welfare of its members. The concept of Civil Society is showing its appearance here. Through an analysis of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in the UK, I will clarify the possibilities for establishing the mechanism of mutual support, whether or not we stay within the families or local communities. I will conclude that, under the contemporary Adult Guardianship System, the focus should be placed on WHO ARE THE BEST PROVIDERS of "PERSONALISED" SUPPORT rather than who are the easiest providers of "uniform" support imposing the least cost on the shoulders of the State.

Article

AN00071028