Seismic Shifts: reconfiguring 'capacity' in law and the challenges of Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability

Abstract

<p>Internationally, the idea of ‘capacity’ has been shaken up and tossed around, and it is a process that is continuing. Medical and legal ideas have been unpicked and interrogated through the lens of human rights. The Hippocratic oath and law’s pragmatic transactional focus have locked horns in an intellectual battle in which the prize is a model of dignity and equality for those whose ability to make decisions is questioned.</p>