Mental capacity in Hong Kong: inconsistencies, uncertainties, and the need for reform

This chapter looks at various legal provisions regulating mental capacity in Hong Kong and evaluates them against requirements set out by Article 12 of the CRPD, highlighting areas which demonstrate inconsistencies, uncertainties, and a need for reform in light of current international human rights norms and standards. The next section provides an overview of the development of Hong Kong law in the area, highlighting changes in its approach to mental health and capacity through the past decades. Section 3 examines how mental (in)capacity is defined in Hong Kong law while sections 4 to 6 closely examine the regulation of (civil) capacity in three significant areas: medical treatment of those with out capacity to consent, substitute decision-making in the forms of guardianship and management of property by the Court, and advance decision-making.