Overview

Personhood, in liberal philosophical and legal traditions, has long been grounded in the idea of autonomy and the right to legal capacity. However, in this book, Julia Duffy questions these assumptions and shows how such beliefs exclude and undermine the rights of adults with cognitive disability. Instead, she reinterprets the right to legal capacity through the principle of the interdependence and indivisibility of human rights. In doing so, she compellingly argues that dignity and not autonomy ought to be the basis of personhood. Using illustrative case studies, Duffy demonstrates that the key human rights values of autonomy, dignity and equality can only be achieved by fulfilling a range of interdependent human rights. With this innovative book challenging common assumptions about human rights and personhood, Duffy leads the way in ensuring civil, economic, political, social, and cultural inclusion for adults with cognitive disabilities.

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9781009304498

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Julia Duffy is a Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research at the Australian Centre for Health Law Research at the Queensland University of Technology. She writes and publishes in the area of cognitive disability, decision-making and human rights law and theory, and provides research and consultancy services to government and non-government agencies on supported decision-making and related areas. She has been a member of two health practitioner regulatory boards, a legal member of Queensland's Mental Health Review Tribunal and was for many years a member of the board of Family Planning Queensland. Julia has also had a substantial career as a government policy advisor, lawyer and senior executive, including roles as Chief Executive of a major Commission of Inquiry into Child Protection and as Deputy Public Guardian.

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