Many adults now survive through the upper age bracket. As individuals advance from one decade to the next, capacity, either physical or mental or both, tend to diminish. Furthermore, those in the oldest age brackets are less likely to have family memb...
Many adults now survive through the upper age bracket. As individuals advance from one decade to the next, capacity, either physical or mental or both, tend to diminish. Furthermore, those in the oldest age brackets are less likely to have family members or friends who might give enough informal help to avoid the necessity for legal procedures. Their natural protectors may have died, moved away or themselves reached an age where they cannot carry this kind of responsibility.
Those are serious problems in the 21st century. They have been considered in public law as a field of social welfare. But it became a serious one in private law as well. Korean Civil Law has a support system and an ability system relating to elderly people. However, only a mental except minors was considered as an object in these systems. So, elderly people have been discarded.
There are human beings who have mental ability but can not do everyday affairs because of their physical defects and who have incomplete mental ability. How can we help them? Our ability system has regarded them as incapacity. But, that is extremely uniform.
This study is designed to meet the needs of growing human beings who have mental ability but can not do everyday affairs because of their physical defects and who have incomplete mental ability, especially Elderly People, for legal advice and assistance on a range of personal, social and financial issues, It brings together a number of topics which have importance in the lives of older people.
As with any section of society, it is impossible to say that all members of that group will have the same or similar needs. It can be argued that old age is predominantly a social construction, based upon society's views of what older people should do. Certainly retirement can be viewed in this way, less an individual choice than an artificial shortening of the working life. This study therefore seeks to take a developmental view of old age and incomplete mental ability, and tries to avoid a stereotypical view of the older person. "Old age" itself may cover a span of 30 years or more and includes a wide range of interests, abilities and needs.
In researching the system of Care and Control(Betreuung), the major obstacle is that there is no(or few) discrete body of law relating to elderly people as there is no distinct legal status of old age. This means that there are bound to be gags in provision which leave some vulnerable people unprotected. At the same time, there is an increasing emphasis on elderly people as actors rather than passive recipients of legal acts. The protective and enabling functions of the law are thus both relevant to the needs of elderly people.
Many other countries such as Germany, France, Austria revised recently their ability systems for elderly people and United Kingdom revised the law of agency for them.
In this paper, the author compares those systems and analyze our ability system in Civil Law. And finally suggests a model of Care and Control System. It is as followings;
Chapter one, Introduction
Chapter two, Incapacity system in Civil Law and systems of protecting elderly people
Chapter three, A legislation in other countries
Chapter four, A system of Care and Control(Betreuung) and protecting elderly people
Chapter five, A legislative suggestion
Chapter six, Conclusion
The most important things in my study are adopting a new concept of ability.
First, Respecting the surviving ability of elderly people. It is a problem on the right of self-determination given by Constitutional Law.
The restriction of an ability is minimized as much as possible, and it should be limited in exceptional case.
Secondly, Considering the surviving ability of elderly people relatively.
The concept of competency should be considered relatively. Competency means the ability demanded generally in legal act. But, it should not be universally applicable in Care and Control(Betreuung).
Thirdly, Taking a serious view of normalization.
Normalization means that elderly people could live their life as usual in their community.
The author thinks our ability system and Guardianship in Civil Law should be revised sooner or later, and suggests that we make the system of Care and Control in Civil Law under considering the above concepts.