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Mexico human rights groups call for additional reforms to legal capacity protections – JURIST

Over 100 human rights groups sent a letter Thursday to the Mexican Congress asking state legislatures to increase and improve legal capacity protections by reforming their civil codes and notary public legislation to provide alternative guardianships for vulnerable groups, particularly older people and people with disabilities. This follows the approval of the National Civil and Family Procedure Code (NCFPC) which grants recognition of legal capacity and discontinues guardianship. The NCFPC will be fully implemented by 2027.The letter to congress implores lawmakers to take a “universal approach” in ensuring legal capacity protections. Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that before the rights created through the NCFPC can be fully realized, states must reform their laws and regulations. HRW goes on to claim that the NCFPC is a step in the right direction, but state legislatures must align their local legislation with the national code, or else there will be gaps in protection.The letter asks that congress clarify portions of the NCFPC, including ensuring that all adults over the age of 18 have the right to full legal capacity, adding supports for exercising this legal capacity and ensuring that support cannot be imposed on anyone as a precondition for exercising this capacity.The letter also asks for additional reforms to the Notary Public Legislation in order to “fully complete harmonization for the full enjoyment of legal capacity.”