Tweet
Armenian citizens declared mentally incompetent doomed to lifelong closed chain
12:14 * 07.03.15
Any citizen of Armenia, if declared legally incompetent, is doomed to
a lifelong closed chain without any chance to ever recover the right
to a legal standing in court and administrative procedures or property
transactions, says a lawyer.
Speaking to Tert.am, Marietta Temuryan, a human rights monitoring
specialist at the Helsinki Civic Assembly's Vanadzor Office,
particularly shared her concerns of the situation of people in old-age
pensioners homes and other semi-closed institutions where she
periodically conducts monitoring.
"The Vardenis Psycho-neurological Boarding House (Gegharkunik region -
Ed), which is the only care center for full age individuals with
mental problems and functions as a subordinate institution adjunct to
the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, can admit only people
declared incompetent. And the latter cannot make a decision about
leaving the institution on their own. The psycho-neurological
institutions under Armenia's Ministry of Health also offer treatment
and care to individuals declared mentally incompetent, who are
admitted and can be discharged only upon a legal represetnative's
consent," she said.
A total of 450 patients are now under the institution's care.
"The whole problem is that whenever an individual is declared legally
incompetent, the decision about his or her treatment is made only by a
guardian. So the person in questions cannot practically leave the
place. And so they spend their lifetime in a mental clinic," she
added.
The lawyer said she knows of very few cases that involved relatives
seeking a corresponding court ruling out of property bias.
Temuryan stressed the importance of expert examinations which she said
might give at least those persons a chance to be declared partially
incompetent. "If, for instance, a person is denied the right to vote
by the decision of a doctor or a commission, it doesn't mean at all
that the individual in question cannot be in marriage just because the
spouse filed a divorce appeal on the grounds of [the ruling] declaring
him or her legally incompetent," she said, noting further that those
individuals are also practically also denied the right to conclude
transactions (including contracts authorizing third persons to give
for rent, sell or buy their property).
Temuryan hailed the parliamentary majority's initiative proposing
amendments to the Civil Code to increase the target groups'
advantages, but in the meantime, she stressed the importance of more
global institutional reforms.
"The main problem is that 'incompetent', as a term, is a comprehensive
concept. So whenever an individual is declared [legally] incompetent,
he or she loses his civil, political and employment rights, the right
to marry or receive education," added the lawyer.
Under the bill, initiated by lawmakers of the ruling Republican Party,
it is proposed that a case involving a demand for declaring a citizen
of Armenia legally incompetent be considered only in the presence of a
guardian or a trustee. "A citizen's participation in the hearing is
mandatory whenever such participation does not pose a threat to the
life or health of the citizen in question or other individuals. Upon
the presence of such a threat, the case is considered in the venue
where the citizen is housed, including a mental hospital," reads the
draft law.
Expressing her unconditional support to the proposal, Temuryan noted
that in very few cases are rulings declaring an individual legally
incompetent are issued in their presence. "There is no precise
statistics, but I have talked to people with mental problems; they
admitted that they were declared incompetent without attending the
hearing," she noted.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2015/03/07/marietatemuryan/1610013
From: A. Papazian
12:14 * 07.03.15
Any citizen of Armenia, if declared legally incompetent, is doomed to
a lifelong closed chain without any chance to ever recover the right
to a legal standing in court and administrative procedures or property
transactions, says a lawyer.
Speaking to Tert.am, Marietta Temuryan, a human rights monitoring
specialist at the Helsinki Civic Assembly's Vanadzor Office,
particularly shared her concerns of the situation of people in old-age
pensioners homes and other semi-closed institutions where she
periodically conducts monitoring.
"The Vardenis Psycho-neurological Boarding House (Gegharkunik region -
Ed), which is the only care center for full age individuals with
mental problems and functions as a subordinate institution adjunct to
the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, can admit only people
declared incompetent. And the latter cannot make a decision about
leaving the institution on their own. The psycho-neurological
institutions under Armenia's Ministry of Health also offer treatment
and care to individuals declared mentally incompetent, who are
admitted and can be discharged only upon a legal represetnative's
consent," she said.
A total of 450 patients are now under the institution's care.
"The whole problem is that whenever an individual is declared legally
incompetent, the decision about his or her treatment is made only by a
guardian. So the person in questions cannot practically leave the
place. And so they spend their lifetime in a mental clinic," she
added.
The lawyer said she knows of very few cases that involved relatives
seeking a corresponding court ruling out of property bias.
Temuryan stressed the importance of expert examinations which she said
might give at least those persons a chance to be declared partially
incompetent. "If, for instance, a person is denied the right to vote
by the decision of a doctor or a commission, it doesn't mean at all
that the individual in question cannot be in marriage just because the
spouse filed a divorce appeal on the grounds of [the ruling] declaring
him or her legally incompetent," she said, noting further that those
individuals are also practically also denied the right to conclude
transactions (including contracts authorizing third persons to give
for rent, sell or buy their property).
Temuryan hailed the parliamentary majority's initiative proposing
amendments to the Civil Code to increase the target groups'
advantages, but in the meantime, she stressed the importance of more
global institutional reforms.
"The main problem is that 'incompetent', as a term, is a comprehensive
concept. So whenever an individual is declared [legally] incompetent,
he or she loses his civil, political and employment rights, the right
to marry or receive education," added the lawyer.
Under the bill, initiated by lawmakers of the ruling Republican Party,
it is proposed that a case involving a demand for declaring a citizen
of Armenia legally incompetent be considered only in the presence of a
guardian or a trustee. "A citizen's participation in the hearing is
mandatory whenever such participation does not pose a threat to the
life or health of the citizen in question or other individuals. Upon
the presence of such a threat, the case is considered in the venue
where the citizen is housed, including a mental hospital," reads the
draft law.
Expressing her unconditional support to the proposal, Temuryan noted
that in very few cases are rulings declaring an individual legally
incompetent are issued in their presence. "There is no precise
statistics, but I have talked to people with mental problems; they
admitted that they were declared incompetent without attending the
hearing," she noted.
http://www.tert.am/en/news/2015/03/07/marietatemuryan/1610013
From: A. Papazian