Tamil Nadu

“Shun guardianship paradigm while tackling mental disability issues”

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: There is a need to move away from “guardianship paradigm” while dealing with issues concerning mental disabilities, Justice A.P. Shah, Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, said here on Saturday.

Addressing a workshop, ‘Legal Capacity and Guardianship,’ organised by the Tamil Nadu State Judicial Academy , Mr. Justice Shah said: “We need to sensitise parents about the process of self-determination and assisted decision-making. All laws and rules, though well intentioned, will be of no help unless parents believe their child can be a participant in making choices, and believe it strongly enough to follow it in their daily lives. Assisted decision-making is giving a person ownership in a decision he is not competent to make on his own.”

Said the Chief Justice: “If some persons have difficulty in expressing and communicating their wishes, the solution is not to employ a guardian, but develop a relation and ways, which make it possible for this person to express and communicate what he wants. This is what supported decision-making is.”

He added, “Let us not forget that the main object is to enable persons with disabilities to live as independently as possible within our own communities.”

He said the Social Model of Disability stated that the “problem is not within the individual, but society, which does not meet this person in such a way that he can function.”

Amita Danda, professor of law, said a disabled adult should be considered as competent as a normal adult. Guardianship should be considered as the last resort and the existing guardianship policies should be questioned in the light of the recent disability movement, she said.

Poonam Natarajan, Chairperson of National Trust, welcomed the gathering.

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