This is a legal mechanism to substitute a person in their decision-making, and provide another person with the power to do so in their name. There are different types of interdiction, including plenary guardianship, legal interdiction, and partial guardianship.
These mechanisms vary depending on local regulations, but they do have common characteristics (Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2014):
a) Legal capacity is removed from a person, even if this is in respect of a single decision.
b) A substitute decision maker can be appointed by someone other than the person concerned, and this can be done against his or her will.
c) Any decision made by a substitute decision maker is based on what is believed to be in the objective ‘best interests’ of the person concerned, as opposed to being based on the person’s own will and preferences.