The Portuguese Protection of the Adult

The Portuguese Law nº. 49/2018, of 14 August, creates the legal adult protection regime, regarding vulnerable adults. This matter has suffered recent changes in the Portuguese legal and judiciary field. A vulnerable adult is someone who is unable to - due to health, disability or behaviour reasons - fully, personally and consciously exercise his/her rights or, in the same terms, fulfil his/her duties.

The adult protection regime aims to ensure his/her welfare, his/her recovery, full exercise of all his/her rights and compliance with his/her duties, within certain limits. It was important to find a more flexible system, that could promote, as much as possible, the will of the persons with disabilities and their self-determination, and also respect their dignity. The adults in these conditions benefit from guardianship measures foreseen in the Portuguese Civil Code.

The adult protection regime may only be applied based on a judicial decision, after certain conditions are verified. The decision can only be taken after personal and direct hearing of the beneficiary and after the consideration of the evidence provided (article 139), ‘so, the judge may assess, in person, the real capacity of the person concerned and. The adult protection regime is also ruled by the principle of necessity. The possibility of the vulnerable adult to act autonomously (without the guardian) will depend on the configuration the judge establishes for the specific case and the measure adopted

As we will see, this new legal outlook has also more respect for private autonomy, within certain limits.

Keywords:Legal adult protection; vulnerable adult; guardianship; adult autonomy

Keywords:CC: Civil Code, CRPD: Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, MAVI: Independent Living Support Scheme