Judges to assess capacity of intellectually disabled witnesses

JUDGES will be given the power to assess whether a person with an intellectual disability has the “capacity” for decision-making, or to be a reliable witness in a court of law.

Under proposed capacity legislation, it is hoped that legal loopholes whereby people with an intellectual disability are often deemed “incapable” of making decisions, or giving evidence, will be closed.

The laws — dating back to the Lunacy Act of 1871 — create barriers for disabled people on a wide range of issues such as access to justice, medical treatment, control of money and the right to marry.