Overview

This open access book offers a critical sociolegal examination of the rights of people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, with a focus on the determination of their legal capacity in court and the wider consequences for their self-determination. Drawing on a research project undertaken in Portugal, the book features six stories and court cases of disabled people, as well as reflections on lessons learned from legal systems around the world where reforms on Article 12 have occurred. The lived-experience narratives are used to challenge the court sentences, showing how particular social contexts and power relations, institutional arrangements, societal reactions, and representations continue to hinder the realisation of human rights. An insightful analysis of the tensions arising between human rights norms and the principles enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, this is a timely resource to inform legal, social, and disability studies scholars and students, policy makers and activists, and guide needed change.

Full Product Details

Author:   Paula Campos Pinto ,  Teresa Janela Pinto ,  Patrícia Neca ,  Fernando Fontes
Publisher:   Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Imprint:   Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN:  

9783032059680

ISBN 10:   3032059682
Pages:   177
Publication Date:   30 November 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

1. Introduction.- PART I – Setting the scene: The CRPD and legal capacity reform.- 2. Legal Capacity in Global Perspective – Translating International Human Rights Norms in Domestic Legal Systems.- 3. Legal framework of the Accompanied Adult. Regime and challenges in the light of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.- 4. Realising the right to legal capacity in Portugal.-  PART II – “In our own words”: Legal capacity through life stories.- 5. Oscar’s story – “I just want my life back”.- 6. Mary’s story – “What’s in a court decision”: The construction of disabled people’s legal (in)capacity.- 7. Samuel’s story – “A process conducted in secrecy”: Disability and symbolic violence.- 8. Sophie’s story – “Minus ten!”: When the law hears, but does not listen.- 9. John’s story - Moving towards legal capacity: The role of empowerment and self-determination.- 10. Peter’s story - My vote, my right: Opportunities and challenges to self-determination under the new legal capacity regime.- 11. Conclusion.

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Author Information

Paula Campos Pinto is Associate Professor at ISCSP, University of Lisbon, Portugal, and coordinator of the Observatory on Disability and Human Rights. An expert in disability and human rights, social inclusion and citizenship, gender, disability and social policy, she was the first elected Chair of the National Mechanism for Monitoring the Implementation of the CRPD in Portugal (2017-2021).  Teresa Janela Pinto is Invited Assistant Professor at ISCSP, University of Lisbon, Portugal, where she teaches courses in social policy, sociology, and social work. She is Vice-Coordinator of the Disability and Human Rights Observatory and an Integrated Researcher from the Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies. Patrícia Neca is Invited Assistant Professor at ISCSP, University of Lisbon, Portugal, Vice-Coordinator of the Observatory on Disability and Human Rights and an Integrated Researcher from the Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies. Fernando Fontes is Assistant Researcher at the Centro de Estudos Sociais of the University of Coimbra, Portugal. His work focuses on issues of disability policies, disability discrimination and hate crime, disabled people’s movements and intimate citizenship of disabled people.

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