The persons declared incompetent will be able to file lawsuits and to challenge court decisions and to also take part in trials or employ a lawyer. The Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional the legal provisions that excessively limit the rights of persons with disabilities. Representatives of “Promo-LEX Association, who filed the challenge, said this is a historical decision, IPN reports.

The decision consists of two sides. The first refers to the right of access to justice, while the second to the civil legal capacity and guardianship. Until recently, if a person had a mental disability, even a minor one, this could be easily declared incompetent by a rather formal procedure and fully deprived of rights. The person could not even dispute the decision by which this was declared incompetent. Consequently, a guardian was named to take decisions in the name of this person.

“Promo-LEX” lawyer Dumitru Sliusarenko said the Court’s decision is a historical one and one of the most important decisions in 2016. The legal provisions declared unconstitutional were designed to ensure an efficient balance between protection and access to justice for persons declared incompetent. In reality, these represented a serious impediment to access to justice for these persons.

In a press release, “Promo-LEX” Association says that with the passing of this decision, a whole category of people who were until now fully isolated from society will be able to claim and defend their rights in court.

The Association said about 250 persons are annually declared incompetent in Moldova and deprived of basic rights, according to the data for 2015 of the Ministry of Health. Most of the incompetent persons are placed in medical or specialized residential institutions and are unable to choose by themselves the institution or leave this, in many cases this being isolation for life.

In 2015, in Moldova there were 3,267 persons who were deprived of legal capacity.