THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY – THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA IN THE PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISABILITIES

The paper analyses Art. 12 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its implications for the position of persons with mental disabilities. The new concept of legal capacity contained in Art. 12 should ensure that fundamental human rights of these persons are no longer “a dead letter on paper”. However, once the Convention came into force, the implementation of this provision has proved to be problematic for States Parties. Diane Kingston, former Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, best expressed the scale of the problem in October 2015 when she emphasized that no country had until that point fully met the requirements contained in Art. 12. Given that the Convention is a document that prescribes the fundamental human rights, the statement that no national legislation is consistent with its key provision is confusing and worrying. Therefore, a special attention should be paid to Art. 12 and its implementation in practice
U radu se analizira odredba čl. 12. Konvencije o pravima osoba s invaliditetom te njezin utje- caj na položaj osoba s duševnim smetnjama. Nova koncepcija poslovne sposobnosti sadržana u čl. 12. trebala bi osigurati da temeljna ljudska prava osoba s duševnim smetnjama više ne budu mrtvo slovo na papiru. No, nakon što je Konvencija stupila na snagu, implementacija ove odredbe pokazala se problematičnom za države stranke. O razmjerima problema najbolje govori izjava Diane Kingston, bivše potpredsjednice Odbora za prava osoba s invaliditetom, iz listopada 2015., kako dotad nijedna zemlja nije u potpunosti udovoljila zahtjevima sadržani- ma u čl. 12. S obzirom na to da je Konvencija dokument koji propisuje temeljna ljudska prava, izjava kako nijedno nacionalno zakonodavstvo nije usklađeno s njegovom ključnom odredbom zbunjujuća je i zabrinjavajuća te zahtijeva da se odredbi čl. 12. posveti posebna pozornost.