Capacity
What is capacity?
Under the Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 (the Act), an adult is deemed to have capacity if they are capable of understanding the nature and effect of the decisions they are making, can freely and voluntarily make those decisions and can communicate those decisions in some way. It is important to note that all adults who are the subject of an application before the Tribunal are presumed to have capacity until the Tribunal deems otherwise.
What is impaired decision-making capacity?
Impaired decision-making capacity is the inability to go through the process of reaching a decision and putting it into effect.
There are three elements to this process:
- understanding the nature and effect of the decision
- freely and voluntarily making a decision and
- communicating the decision in some way.
If an adult is unable to carry out any part of this process for decision-making, he/she is said to have impaired decision-making capacity.
Impaired decision-making capacity is not ignorance, eccentricity, different ethical views, cultural diversity, poor communication, poor judgement or poor decision making.
What is Capacity for a "Matter"?
The Act refers to capacity for a "matter". This means an adult may have capacity for decision-making in some areas but not in others. For example, an adult may have capacity to make decisions of a personal nature such as health care but not have capacity to manage some or all of their financial affairs. In this example, the Tribunal would take the least restrictive option and appoint a substitute decision maker for financial matters only.
Last updated 10/6/2007
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