[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Forensic medicine](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/) › [A doctor's legal duties in Colombia](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/areas/duties/) › Law 1996 of 2019: legal capacity of adults with disability # Law 1996 of 2019: legal capacity of adults with disability - Law Law 1996 of 2019 recognises the full legal capacity of adults with disability, banned guardianship by interdiction and created supports for decision-making. Updated Nov 5, 2026 ## Key points - Presumption of capacity: disability is never a reason to restrict legal capacity (art. 6). - Starting interdiction proceedings has been banned since 2019 (art. 53). - Supports: support agreement, advance directives and exceptional court-ordered supports. - A support agreement lasts five years at most (art. 18). - A diagnosis is not incapacity: capacity is assessed for the specific decision, with reasonable accommodations. ## What it is Law 1996 of 2019, of 26 August 2019, sets the rules for the exercise of legal capacity by adults with disability, in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It presumes their capacity, bans starting interdiction (guardianship) proceedings and replaces substituted decision-making with supports: support agreements before a notary or conciliator, advance directives and, exceptionally, court-ordered supports. The Constitutional Court upheld it against the claim that it needed to be a statutory law (Ruling C-022 of 2021) and upheld the presumption of capacity and the ban on interdiction (Ruling C-025 of 2021). For doctors it changes how capacity is assessed and documented: a diagnosis does not remove it. ## Key articles - Art. 3: defines supports (help with communication, with understanding legal acts and with expressing one's will), reasonable accommodations and the assessment of support needs. - Art. 6: all persons with disability have legal capacity on an equal basis, whether or not they use supports; disability is never a reason to restrict the capacity to act. - Art. 8: the capacity to carry out legal acts independently is presumed; needing accommodations to communicate or understand does not rebut that presumption. - Art. 9: supports are set up by a support agreement or by court-ordered supports. - Art. 11: the assessment of support needs is done by public or private bodies following the lead agency's guidelines; it is free at public bodies, and at least the Ombudsman's Office, municipal ombudsmen (personerías) and local governments must provide it. - Art. 18: no support agreement may last more than five years. - Arts. 21 and 30: advance directives may cover health decisions and, at the person's request, are attached to the medical record. - Arts. 32 and 38: court-ordered supports are handled by the family judge; if someone else applies, they must prove the person is absolutely unable to express their will by any means and that this threatens their rights. - Art. 53: bans starting interdiction proceedings or requiring such rulings for any procedure; art. 56: earlier interdictions are reviewed before the family judge. - Art. 57: amended art. 1504 of the Civil Code; in the new text, only prepubertal children are absolutely incapable. ## What it covers - Full legal capacity of adults with disability and the presumption of that capacity. - Support mechanisms: support agreements (before a notary or conciliator), advance directives and court-ordered supports. - The assessment of support needs and reasonable accommodations. - The end of interdiction and the review of earlier interdictions. ## Next step: what to do and document - Presume the capacity of an adult patient with disability and offer reasonable accommodations to communicate: sign language interpreter, plain language, more time. - Assess capacity for the specific decision (understand, appreciate, reason, express a choice) and record how it was assessed (see Medical ethics). - If the patient has a support agreement or an advance directive, ask for a copy and attach it to the medical record (art. 30). - Do not demand an interdiction ruling to treat, operate or sign a consent: the law forbids requiring it to start any procedure (art. 53). - If an authority asks for an assessment, describe which supports the person needs and for which decisions, instead of declaring them «incapable». ## Status and official text - Law 1996 of 2019 (26 August 2019). In force from its enactment; chapter V (court-ordered supports) came into force 24 months later (art. 52). - Ruling C-022 of 2021: the law upheld against the statutory-law claim. Ruling C-025 of 2021: the first two paragraphs of art. 6 and art. 53 upheld; the Court declined to rule on arts. 8 and 19. - Art. 61: repealed, among other rules, arts. 1 to 48 of Law 1306 of 2009, which governed interdiction. - Official text checked on 2026-11-05 at funcionpublica.gov.co (Gestor Normativo) and corteconstitucional.gov.co (Rulings C-022 and C-025 of 2021). ## Test yourself Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it. ## What did Law 1996 of 2019 ban regarding interdiction? Starting interdiction or partial-guardianship proceedings and requiring such rulings for any public or private procedure (art. 53). ## Does an adult lose legal capacity because of an intellectual disability? No. Art. 6 recognises their legal capacity on an equal basis and forbids using disability to restrict it. ## How long can a support agreement last under Law 1996 of 2019? Five years at most; after that it must be made again (art. 18). ## When can another person apply for court-ordered supports for an adult with disability? Only for that person's benefit, and if they prove the person is absolutely unable to express their will by any means and that this threatens their rights (art. 38). ## What did the Constitutional Court decide in Ruling C-025 of 2021? It upheld the first two paragraphs of art. 6 (presumption of capacity) and art. 53 (ban on interdiction). [Add to my cards (5)](https://durgical.app/estudiar/?add=/en/forensic-medicine/law-1996-of-2019-legal-capacity-of-adults-with-disability/) ## Elsewhere in DurgiPedia - [Decision-making capacity (competence) and how to assess it](https://durgical.com/en/medical-ethics/decision-making-capacity-and-how-to-assess-it/) ## Connections ## Related 2 - [The forensic psychiatric evaluation](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/the-forensic-psychiatric-evaluation/) - [Criminal responsibility and inimputabilidad (Penal Code art. 33)](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/criminal-responsibility-and-inimputabilidad/) [← All of forensic medicine](https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/) Educational content on forensic and legal medicine; not legal advice and no substitute for the technical guides of Colombia's National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences. Laws change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, follow the guide in force and ask the competent authority. Sources: [Ley 1996 de 2019, régimen para el ejercicio de la capacidad legal de las personas con discapacidad mayores de edad](https://www.funcionpublica.gov.co/eva/gestornormativo/norma.php?i=99712) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2019); [Sentencia C-022 de 2021](https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2021/C-022-21.htm) (Corte Constitucional de Colombia, 2021); [Sentencia C-025 de 2021](https://www.corteconstitucional.gov.co/relatoria/2021/c-025-21.htm) (Corte Constitucional de Colombia, 2021). ## **Spotted a mistake?** We are always improving for the community. Tell us what is wrong and our team will review it. Report a mistake Representative model, for educational purposes only. --- Source: https://durgical.com/en/forensic-medicine/law-1996-of-2019-legal-capacity-of-adults-with-disability/ License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 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