La responsabilidad civil de la persona con discapacidad y de las instituciones de apoyo

Abstract

Law 8/2021, of 2 June, reforming civil and procedural legislation to support persons with disabilities in their legal capacity, has brought about a paradigm shift in the conception of persons with disabilities. The new regulatory framework imposes the recognition of the entire exercise of lawful power by persons with disabilities on an equal footing with others (in all aspects of their lives). One of the most exciting modifications has been the one related to civil liability, expressly attributing to the person with disabilities the obligation to compensate to put them on an equal footing with the rest. The regulatory alteration has also impacted the system of liability of the support institutions that the rule professes, mainly on the liability of the guardian with full powers of representation of that art. 1903 CC professes. The goal of this paper is to analyse the civil liability of the person with a disability and of those called upon to provide support, focusing on the criterion of imputation and the construction of the structure of the civil liability system. Thus, precisely, the focus is placed on the obligation to compensate the person with disabilities and on the main lines of civil liability: i) Those voluntarily appointed; ii) The de facto guardian; iii) The legal defender; iv) The guardian (representative or not); v) Other eventual responsible parties. The methodology used is qualitative, analysing the grammar, spirit and purpose (ex art. 3.1 CC) of arts. 299 and 1903CC, placed about the inspiring principles of the New York Convention of 13 December 2006 (on the rights of persons with disabilities), doctrine and case law.