The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) held the International Conference on the Adult Guardianship for the Respect and Protection of Autonomy and Independence on May 10 2013 at the Hanyang University. The conference brought together experts from home and abroad for their insight on the Adult Guardianship System, slated to be introduced on July 1 2013 in Korea.
Around 20 policy makers and experts in various fields including Daniel Koh, Head of the Office of the Public Guardian and Fumie Suga, Professor of the Hosei University, attended the conference to discuss ways to improve the system.
The Incompetent Person System, which has long been criticized for undermining autonomy of people lacking mental capacity, is about to be replaced with the Adult Guardianship System. However, the Korean government has not yet laid out any details for the effective implementation of the system including purposes, plans etc.
Against this backdrop, the conference served as a good opportunity to explore ways to respond to any problems that could be emerged in the future with the enforcement of the system by sharing experiences and best practices of other countries.
