Inconsistencias en el término “trastorno mental” dentro del Código Civil.

Abstract

Since the enactment of the Organic Law on Mental Health in 2024, the Civil Code excluded the use of the term “insane” after having been used for more than 160 years in the Ecuadorian civil legal system, to replace it with the term “person with a mental disorder”. This work aims to cover the background, implications, comparisons and consequences of said reform in the Civil Code. Mainly, it is shown that the reform by the new term presents inconsistencies in the legal field and violates fundamental rights recognized in the Magna Carta for people with mental disorders that do not deprive the person of exercising their autonomy of will. Additionally, the inclusion of reforms to the Civil Code that establish clearer rules regarding when interdiction is appropriate is recommended. This implies changing the term "person with a mental disorder" to "person with a mental disability" and the inclusion of procedural rules that allow for more precise regulation of when a declaration of interdiction is appropriate based on the higher evidentiary and scientific standards for such an important kind of trial.