Guardianship board receives 25 applications in eight months

The Office of the Guardianship Board received 25 applications between September 2014 and May 2015. The applications submitted requested guardianship for person with intellectual disability, mental health problems or dementia.

Piloted by the parliamentary secretariat for elderly and persons with disability, parliament is currently discussing amendments to the Guardianship legislation first enacted in 2012.

The guardianship system is intended for individuals with mental or physical disability who need support to manage their private affairs.

Information provided by the parliamentary secretariat shows that, so far, guardianship services were mostly requested by persons suffering from dementia (eight) and with intellectual disability (seven).

But while policies strive to allow persons with disabilities to, not only be in control of their decisions, but be in decision-making position, junior minister Justyne Caruana said that there existed a certain degree of resistance. She said that work was being carried out on two fronts, one with the parents and the other with the National Council for Persons with Disability (KNPD).

“We have to be more courageous,” Caruana urged.

Caruana explained that she faced instances where persons with disability wanted to join the workforce and live a more independent life but would be stopped by their parents, protective that something might happen to their children. The parliamentary secretary said that the parliamentary secretariat wanted to show that any decisions and policy directs are taken seriously, always in the best interest of persons with disability.

The proposed amendments state that the Justice Minister, together with the minister responsible persons with disability, “shall nominate a pool of guardians as he may deem fit, consisting of advocates, legal procurators, social workers and other experts, to perform the duties of guardians”.

State Guardians will be entrusted with taking personal and health decisions on behalf of adults with impaired decision-making capacity and protecting the private assets and supervising the financial affairs of people who lack mental capacity for making decisions.

The first Guardianship Board was appointed in July 2014 and is composed of a Judge, as the president, a member appointed after consultation with the KNPD and a member appointed after consultation with the authority responsible for safeguarding the rights of persons with mental disorder and the elderly.

When making decisions, the board must take into account the wishes of the person who will be subject to guardianship, the possibility of maintaining family and social relationships and the compatibility of the person proposed as a guardian with the person subject to guardianship.

Guardians are obliged by law to act in the best interests of the person subject to guardianship and be responsible to safeguard the personal and proprietary well-being of the person to whose guardianship they are appointed.