Deputyship (Switzerland)

Deputyship (Beistandschaft, curatelle, curatela) is a Swiss legal instrument that replaced guardianship (Vormundschaft, tutelle) in adult protection law on 1 January 2013. It enables the officially ordered legal representation of a person of legal age who lacks the capacity of judgment.

The regulation of deputyship of minors in child protection law is set out in Art. 327a-c of the Swiss Civil Code, which came into force on 1 January 2013. The provisions of adult protection law, namely on the appointment of the deputy, the management of the deputyship and the involvement of the adult protection authority, apply mutatis mutandis.

Types of deputyships
Since 1 January 2013, a distinction has been made between three different types of deputyship and the general deputyship. The previous category of custodial deprivation of liberty has been replaced by the new category of custodial placement. The new body is the Child and Adult Protection Authority (KESB, APEA, ARP).

The law distinguishes between the


 * Assistance deputyship (Art. 393),
 * Representative deputyship (Art. 394 & 395) and
 * Advisory deputyship (Art. 396) and
 * General deputyship (Art. 398).

The areas of responsibility of the deputyship may include personal care, property care or legal affairs, and should correspond to the needs of the person concerned (Art. 391).

Literature

 * Taban, Özlem (2012). "Das neue Schweizer Erwachsenenschutzrecht". Interdisziplinäre Zeitschrift für Familienrecht (in German) (2): 80–85.
 * Noser, Walter; Rosch, Daniel (2016). Erwachsenenschutz: Das neue Gesetz umfassend erklärt - mit Praxisbeispielen (in German) (3 ed.). Zürich: Beobachter-Edition. ISBN 978-3-85569-999-5.