Protection of Persons with Intellectual and Psychosocial Disabilities through Legal Counseling and Special Guardianship. The Conditions for Establishing These Measures

By Law no 140/2022 regarding some protection measures for persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities and the modification and completion of some normative acts, the Romanian legislator responded to the need for regulation in the field of protection of persons, bringing the provisions of civil legislation into agreement with the Decision no 601/2020 of the Constitutional Court of Romania. Through this Decision, the Constitutional Court declared unconstitutional art 164 of the Civil Code which stated the institution of placing under prohibition the mentally retarded or mentally alienated natural person. The Court showed in its reasoning that this institution was not accompanied by sufficient guarantees to ensure respect for fundamental human rights and freedoms, as they are enshrined in the Romanian Constitution and interpreted by reference to international treaties, in this case the Convention on the Rights of people with disabilities. Starting from the actuality and particular practical relevance of the newly created mechanism for the protection of individuals with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities, this article proposes an overview of the new measures, emphasizing in particular the distinction between the types of measures that make up the new protection system and analysis of the conditions under which they can be disposed. The study is not intended to be an exhaustive one but aims to identify the general lines in the matter, at the same time raising the question of whether the new provisions really constitute real legislative progress in the matter of civil legislation applicable to individuals.