Yes.

There is universal law on protecting the rights of people with mental incapability. The Mental Health Ordinance (Cap. 136) guarantees and protects the rights of people with mental illness throughout the course of illness and recovery, including those who have dementia. A guardian or a committee may be appointed for helping to take care of the property and affairs, as well as the medical and health care of individuals who are mentally incapacitated (Department of Justice, 2019b).

References:

Department of Justice. (2019b). Cap. 136 Mental Health Ordinance. Hong Kong Retrieved from https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap136.

The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act (2007) places the responsibility on children or relatives to take care of the elderly and highlights that neglect or abandonment of elderly people is a punishable offence by law (Ministry of Law and Justice, 2007). In addition, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016 and the Mental Health Care Act 2017 highlight protection of rights of people with disabilities and mental health conditions, respectively (Government of India, 2016; Ministry of Law and Justice, 2017).

References:

Government of India. (2016). The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act. THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY PART II.

Ministry of Law and Justice. (2007). Maintenance and welfare of parents and senior citizens Act. Government of India.

Ministry of Law and Justice. (2017). The Mental Health Care Act 2017. Government of India. Available from: https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2017/175248.pdf

Human rights of all persons (including safeguarding against exploitation, violence, or abuse) are regulated by the Law no. 9/1999 on Human Rights. There is an independent legal body called the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) whose function is to carry out assessment, research, counselling, monitoring, and mediation. It has the capacity to receive appeals/complaints, to run investigations, and to perform monitoring-evaluations when needed (UU No. 39/1999 Tentang Hak Asasi Manusia (Law No. 39/1999 on Human Rights), 1999).

There is also a law pertaining domestic violence, which is applicable to abuse committed within the household. There is no mention of different approaches in cases where the victim is an older person or a person living with dementia (UU No. 23/2004 Tentang Penghapusan Kekerasan Dalam Rumah Tangga (Law No. 23/2004 on Elimination of Domestic Violence), 2004).

References:

UU No. 23/2004 tentang Penghapusan Kekerasan Dalam Rumah Tangga (Law No. 23/2004 on Elimination of Domestic Violence), (2004) (testimony of Republik Indonesia).

UU no. 39/1999 tentang Hak Asasi Manusia (Law no. 39/1999 on Human Rights), (1999) (testimony of Republik Indonesia).

No. In fact, the Caribbean Community of Retired Persons (CCRP) highlighted the vulnerability of older persons, including persons living with dementia, such as financial abuse and neglect from their relatives and caregivers, especially where they had no relatives in Jamaica and were completely dependent on the caregiver (the Jamaica Gleaner, 2019). Currently, legislation is not specific to older persons or persons with dementia and so there is little opportunity for redress for older persons with dementia in these cases.

References:

The Jamaica Gleaner. (2019). Elderly fleeced – Call for special laws to shield vulnerable as families, caregivers plunder the aged, 2 June 2019. Available from: https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20190602/elderly-fleeced-call-special-laws-shield-vulnerable-families

The care and protection of older members of society bill, 2018; PART III provides for the prohibition, notification, and register of abuse of an older member of society. PART VII indicates the manner in which matters concerning older members of society are to be tackled while taking into consideration the unique needs of such persons (Republic of Kenya, 2018b). However, this is not specific to people with dementia.

References:

Republic of Kenya. (2018b). The Care and Protection of Older Members of Society Bill, 2018. Kenya Gazette Supplement No. 73 (Senate Bills No. 17), pp. 333–363. Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.parliament.go.ke/sites/default/files/2018-08/The%20Care%20and%20Protection%20of%20Older%20Members%20of%20Society%20Bill%2C%202018.pdf

While there are no specific laws in favor of persons with dementia or their caregivers in Mexico, more general laws are aimed at preserving their rights as persons, such as the Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination, and the General Law for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. However, it must be recognised that neither of these two mentions dementia specifically.

Mental Health Act (MHA):

• Individuals subject to the MHA have legal recourse to challenge their treatment and/or detention. They also receive oversight from District Inspectors to ensure they have their rights upheld. The office of District Inspectors is established by statutory authority under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992, to ensure that people subject to compulsory assessment and treatment are advised of their rights, complaints of breaches of their rights are investigated and services are improved where required, in order for their rights to be upheld (Ministry of Health, 2003).

Protection of Personal and Property Rights (PPPR) Act (1988):

• Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA): Section 103 of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 allows for an application to be made to the court for the review of a decision of an EPOA. However, the number of applications for review of the decisions of EPOAs are few and far between. In 2015, there were 16 such applications, with 12 in 2016 and 10 in 2017 (Human Rights Commission, 2018).
• Welfare Guardian – As with an EPOA, there is lack of monitoring once the orders are made. The court-appointed lawyer’s role ends at the time orders are made, and the court has no other involvement other than if a further application is made; or shortly before the orders expire, when the orders are the subject of a review. In terms of the use of the Court as a mechanism for reviewing the reasonableness of decisions made by welfare guardians and/or property managers, there were 25 such applications in 2017. This suggests that the Court is used infrequently to check the appropriateness of the actions of welfare guardians and/or property managers (Human Rights Commission, 2018).

The Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights and the use of Right 7(4)

• There is no national consensus about the limits of right 7(4) leading to varying approaches adopted across the country by DHBs, Needs Assessment Service Co-ordination Agencies (NASC) and local residential care providers as to whether right 7(4) provides sufficient legal authority to provide long-term care and/or to detain a person in residential care.

As Iris Revuecamp notes “The regulatory controls [rely] for the most part, on the raising of concerns or complaints by the person themselves, or someone being available to do so on their behalf. This fails to take into account that many people who lack capacity to make decisions do not have people available to advocate on their behalf – making them particularly vulnerable to abuse and neglect in the absence of routine visits and monitoring by their families and/or friends, or, unfortunately, perhaps because of the care (or lack thereof) of their families and/or friends” (Human Rights Commission, 2018).

References:

Human Rights Commission. (2018). This is not my home: A collection of perspectives on the provision of aged residential care without consent. Auckland Human Rights Commission.

Ministry of Health. (2003). Guidelines for the Role and Function of District Inspectors appointed under the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992. Available from: https://www.moh.govt.nz/notebook/nbbooks.nsf/0/043E82835A19A74D4C2568B500770432/$file/GuidelinesForTheRoleAndFunctionOfDistrictInspector.pdf.

There are no provisions specifically for persons living with dementia. However, the South Africa Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) was established in 1995 as an institution that is mandated to support constitutional democracy and project human rights of all persons in South Africa. Violations and/or issues of concern can be lodged as complaints to the SAHRC and can be investigated in the interest of safeguarding against exploitation, violence, and abuse.