• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
• /
• v.41 no.3
• /
• pp.241-269
• /
• 2010

The purpose of this study is to examine the arguments about the conceptualization and the assessment of mental capacity and legal competence concerning the adult guardianship. Based on these literature reviews, the author analysed Mental Capacity Act 2005 of United Kingdom. The act conceptualizes legal competence as a concept dependent on a specific decision, time, and environmental support or convenience. According to the act, the assessment of the legal competence shall be made with ensuring the person all the viable supports and environmental conveniences. And it appears that the hierarchical assessment system of the act assures that the more the decision is important the more professional and more formal assessment shall be used. Based on these findings the author suggested several implications for the legislation of a new adult guardianship act in Korea.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.155-206
• /
• 2023

When a person with diminished mental capacity refuses necessary medical care, normative judgments about when paternalistic intervention can be justified come into question. A typical example is involuntary hospitalization for people with mental disabilities, traditionally governed by mental health law. However, Korean civil law reform in 2011 introduced a new form of involuntary hospitalization through guardianship legislation, leading to a dualized system to involuntary hospitalization. Consequently, a conflict has arisen between the 'best interest and surrogate decision-making' paradigm of civil law and the 'social defense and preventive detention' paradigm of mental health law. Many countries have criticized this dualized system as not only inefficient but also unfair. Moreover, the requirement for the presence of 'mental illness' for involuntary hospitalization under mental health law has faced criticism for unfairly discriminating against people with mental disabilities. In response, attempts have been made to integrate guardianship legislation and mental health law based on mental capacity. This study examines the legislative process and framework of the Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016, which reorganized the mental health care system by fusing guardianship legislation with mental health law based on mental capacity. By analyzing the case of Northern Ireland, which has grappled with conflicts between guardianship legislation and mental health law since the 1990s and recently proposed mental capacity as a single, non-discriminatory standard, we aimed to offer insights for the Korean guardianship and mental health systems.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.297-326
• /
• 2013

The purpose of this study was firstly to analyse the conceptualization of disability of the Mental Health Act and related laws and to suggest revision of the definition of psychiatric disability of Mental Health Act to improve the protection of human rights and welfare of the people with psychiatric disability. For these purposes this paper reflected on the disability models of WHO(1980, 2001) and multiple paradigm of disability of Priestley(1998) and suggested a new conceptualization of disability consists of impairment, functional disability, and social interactional disability. Based on the analyses of conceptualizations of psychiatric disability of related laws, this study suggested revision of Mental Health Act to distinguish between mental disorder and psychiatric disability, to introduce the definition of mental capacity, and to expand the conceptualization of social interactional disability.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.85-111
• /
• 2016

This study aims to analyse major changes of Mental Health Promotion and Welfare Service Support Act(MHPWSSA) and critically discuss these changes based on the major discourses on Mental Health Act revision. For this purposes this study reviewed literatures and government reports to understand human rights discourses, welfare discourses, and prevention discourses. Secondly, the major changes of MHPWSSA were analysed and discussed based on those discourses. This study found that MHPWSSA defined the concept of people with mental disorders narrowly, tightened the involuntary admission procedures, introduced welfare service support provisions and mental health promotion provisions. But this study shows that the new legislation may well be criticised due to neglect of the concept of disability and people with psychiatric disability, involuntary admission without mental capacity assessment, neglect of the basic values and principles of self determination and independent living common in welfare of the persons with disability. And the new legislation may be criticised due to overuse of the concept of mental health promotion as encompassing promotion, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.227-255
• /
• 2011

Recently, many nations said "yes" to human embryonic stem cell research, signing an executive order to permit funding for the research in the mame of achieving health and life of humankind. Human Embryo Research is permitted by our Bioethics & Biosafety Act. But, illegal research cannot be divorced from civil liability since it requires the destruction of eggs of fertilized eggs and personal rights of embryo-creator. After all, though we allow to do research embryo, we should control the capacity of abuse of embryo research for embryo-creator. If research violate the law(Bioethics & Biosafety Act or Civil Law, etc), it comes to a delict by pecuniary loss and non-pecuniary loss. When it comes to pecuniary loss, Human Embryo is not body but special property. Supreme Court maintained a stance that mental suffering is generally deemed as compensable for damages for the loss of property where a person's property right is invaded by a tort or non-performance of obligation. Thus, where mental suffering occurs, which cannot be compensated by recovery of property losses, the situation must be a special circumstance and the injured could claim consolation money for such losses only if the offender knew or would have known of such special circumstances(Supreme Court Decision 96Da31574 delivered on Nov, 26, 1996, etc.). That is to say, Supreme Court regards mental suffering through person's property right invaded by a tort as damages that have arisen through special circumstances. According to Civil law article 393 (2), the injured could claim consolation money for such losses only if only if the offender had foreseen or could have foreseen such circumstances. Also our court will solve through damages for non-pecuniary loss by complementary function of consolation money in that pecuniary loss could be difficult to valuate.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.221-254
• /
• 2015

The amendment of the Korea Civil Code will take place July 1, 2013. One of the most import issues related to adult guardianship system is a part. Though more than 100 new provisions, the revised Civil Code fundamentally reformed the guardianship system to establish a system to meet the diverse and complex needs of those who need a guardian and ensure due process. The new adult guardianship system intended to respect dignity and human right of mentally incapacitated adults, to guaranee their autunomy and to minimize the public interventions for assisting them. The new guardianship system for vulnerable adult has three kinds of legal guardianship system (adult guardianship, limited guardianship and specific guardianship). Mental patients forced the hospitalization of the mental health code and will be treated as an agreement incapable person. In principle an agreement incapable person has capacity of consent. The consent of the mental patients are admitted first. It is advisable to medical care only by the consent of the guardian when the the mental patient do not agree ability. If the mental patient do not agree with the mentally ill, but there should be a supervisory capacity for a guardianship of the couple guardian supervision. In conclusion, it not lost the capacity to consent to inpatient mental illness called. Therefore, we must discuss in detail the scope of the agreement for the mental patients. Mental Health Act amendments are necessary in accordance with the amended Civil Code.

• Korean Security Journal
• /
• no.10
• /
• pp.293-322
• /
• 2005

The culpability of a person, as determined by due process of law, for any of his actions that are defined as criminal. Determination of such responsibility is a legal function, not a psychiatric one, although a psychiatrist may be called upon to present evidence to the court in order to aid the judge or jury in reaching a decision as to responsibility. Determination of responsibility varies with the laws of the state in which the accused is being tried, but in general all states base their laws on three famous judicial decisions concerning criminal responsibility. 1. the M'Naghten(McNaughton) rule(a. to establish such a defense the accused, at the time the act was committed, must be shown to have been laboring under such defect of reason as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, b. if he did know it, he did or know that what he was doing was wrong). 2. the irresistible impulse test. 3. the Durham decision. Under the Durham test, however, the psychiatrist may give any relevant testmony concerning the mental illness at issue. The psychological and behavioral appearance of a person, in clinical psychiatry this term is commonly used to refer to the results of the mental examination of a patient. The written report of the mental status usually contains specific references to the following areas: I. Attitude and General Behavior (1)General health and appearance. (2)General habits of dress. (3)Personal habits. (4)General mood. (5)Use of leisure time. (6)Degree of sociability. (7)Speech. II. Attitude and Behavior during interview (1)Co-operativeness. (2)Poise. (3)Facial expression. (4)Motor activity. (5)Mental activity. (6)Emotional reactions. (7)Trend of thought. III. Sensorium, mental grasp, and capacity (1)Orientation. (2)Memory and retention. (3)Estimate of intelligence. (4)Abstraction ability. (5)Tests of absurdity, interpretation of proverbs. (6)Judgment.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.103-131
• /
• 2022

2021, the Supreme Court recognized the foundation of the quasi-indecent act by force by the concept of 'alcohol blackout' although there were multiple situations that it was hard to judge insanity of the victims was evident in the cases with drunken victims. This means the consideration of insanity state due to temporary false memory rather than the total loss of mental capacity from the existing concept of insanity. However, the interpretation of insanity in the criminal law has to be strict and its application could be difficult. In particular, the comparison precedent which is very similar to the subject one was determined not to be the same with the state of the insanity or inability to resist during the sexual relation though the victim had the symptoms of alcohol blackout, denying the quasi-indecent act by force. This argument is determined to be logical remarkably, and insanity and quasi-indecent act by force should be discussed considering the medical review on the alcohol blackout of the victims sufficiently when determining the individual precedents. In addition, the most important point in the sexual crimes is the consent, and there may be possibility of negligence in case that uncertain consent is determined as the consent to continue the following act. Also, in case of uncertain consent or suspicious, universal determination not to follow the act should be able to realized. Therefore, strong evidence is required for criminality, determining that the victim is the state not to be able to do the normal judgment and the minimum willful negligence is existed that the accused uses this. In the subject ruling, the act of the accused has to be clearly punished, however, it is determined to be unreasonable for the punishment with the quasi-indecent act by force under the interpretation of the current regulations.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.38-52
• /
• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to suggest the main functions and implications of public hospitals to effectively respond to the future epidemic crisis based on analyzing the accessibility to designated Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) medical institutions of Seoul and examining the main features of the quarantine of Seoul municipal hospitals. Method: To analyze the response and function of Seoul municipal hospitals, we reviewed the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention ACT, 258 articles of Seoul Metropolitan Government press releases from January to the end of April, 48 articles of Seoul Metropolitan Government's daily newsletters, 2019 Health Bureau Budget report. We also referred to internal data of Seoul Children's Hospital, Seoul Seobuk Hospital, and Seoul Eunpyeong Hospital during the same period. Besides, the accessibility to medical institutions was analyzed by using the COVID-19 data which was announced daily basis. Results: The accessibility of COVID-19 patients living in the Southeastern part of Seoul to a medical institutions was 16.2km on a distance basis, and it was the lowest accessibility among four regions of Seoul since it took about 40 minutes by car. On the other hand, patients living in the Northeast part had the highest accessibility, as the access to medical institutions was 10.7km and 27 minutes by car. Also, the main functions of the municipal hospital of Seoul against COVID-19 were to shift the public hospital function to COVID-19 patients only hospitals, to perform the epidemiological investigation by medical doctors, and to support the operation of self-isolation facilities, community treatment centers and triage rooms of community health centers. Conclusion: Through the experience of COVID-19, we suggested that the functions of public hospitals will be reorganized as the reinforcement of infectious disease treatment and mental health for quarantined patients, cooperation with private hospitals, supporting for strengthening community health capacity and preparation for another epidemic.