Isle of Man

The Isle of Man is a British Crown possession. It had been subject to Norwegian, then competing claims of Scottish and English suzerainty. The English asserted a claim to its possession. English monarchs made successive grants of the Island to individuals. Ultimately, it was granted to Sir John Stanley, subject to English suzerainty. In 1765, by the Act of Revestment, the Island was transferred (with the Lordship) to the British Crown. The British monarch is therefore head of state as the Lord of Man. The Island has never formed part of the metropolitan territories of the United Kingdom, however.

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom with its own Regional Assembly, but is subject to direct rule from the UK Parliament in Westminster in relation to certain reserved matters. The law relating to mental capacity in Northern Ireland is in a period of change.

France

France is a unitary republic, divided into ninety-six metropolitan departments, five overseas departments and seven overseas territories. The judicial authority is the third authority referred to in the constitution of October 4, 1958, together with the legislature (Parliament) and the executive (Government). France is a civil law country; its legal system is based on Roman/Napoleonic law and was codified in 1804 (code civil). The code civil applies to all departments and overseas territories with limited exceptions for the latter.

Scotland

Introduction and Background As one of the constituent nations of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (‘UK’), Scotland has always retained its separate legal system. Scotland occupies the northern part of the island of Great Britain, together with some...

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a unified kingdom and member state of the EU, with a civil law system. The court of first instance is either the District Court (Rechtbank) or the Sub- District Court (Kantonrechter—‘KR’). KR is part of the District Court.

The Cross-Border Protection of Adults

The cross-border protection of adults is an area of Private International Law, in which theory and practice may very often be in rather different places. In Chapters 2 has set out the broad Private International Law concepts likely to be encountered in adult protection. Chapters 3 describes the history and development from Roman law of internal law relating to the protective regimes that have existed and evolved for adults with an impairment and makes some comparisons.

Malta

Maltese law is best described as a hybrid form of law. Whereas the private law is based on the Napoleonic Code, other areas of law have been shaped on common law models, namely the constitutional and administrative law of the island, as well as legislation in areas of commercial and financial areas.

Spain

Spain has a civil law system, is a member of the EU and is also multi-jurisdictional. Some regions (Cataluña, Aragón, Navarra) have specific laws affecting the protection of adults. Matters not covered by those laws and regions without specific laws are subject to the Spanish Civil Code (‘CC’).

Canada—Nova Scotia

Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces, including Nova Scotia (‘NS’), and three territories. The common law applies in Canada, with the exception of the province of Quebec, which uses a civil law system. There is a federal government; as a province, NS also exercises constitutional powers in its own right. Federal legislation includes provisions relating to adults within the scope of this work. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms also guarantees certain political rights to Canadians and civil rights to everyone in Canada, and contains rights that impact upon capacity law.

The United States of America

The United States of America is a physically large country, occupying nearly 3.5 million square miles. Its population of more than 321 million persons is distributed unevenly across its physical area, with over half living in a state located on either its east or west coast. It comprises fifty states, two commonwealths, three territories, and a number of island entities variously called possessions or territories. In addition, there are currently 566 federally recognized Native American tribes, each of which has sovereign authority with respect to a limited range of matters. The capitol city of Washington, DC, is an independent district not located within any state; it has a local government and is also subject to federal authority in some areas.