A philosophical approach to decision-making for sterilising mentally disordered adults / Wang Min Yen
The issue of sterilisation of mentally disordered persons has never been considered by the courts or the legislature of Malaysia. This thesis examines how the law of tort of Malaysia should look at sterilisation of mentally disordered adults. In this connection, the history of compulsory sterilis...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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2009
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| Online Access: | http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/9154/ http://studentsrepo.um.edu.my/9154/4/A_PHILOSOPHICAL_APPROACH_TO_DECISION%2DMAKING.pdf |
| Summary: | The issue of sterilisation of mentally disordered persons has never been considered by
the courts or the legislature of Malaysia. This thesis examines how the law of tort of
Malaysia should look at sterilisation of mentally disordered adults. In this connection,
the history of compulsory sterilisation in other jurisdictions, the way the existing
legislative framework of Malaysia views the question of consent and medical treatment,
as well as how the sterilisation cases in England, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and
the US have developed are all looked into with a view of forming a legal proposition
using a philosophical approach. It is proposed that the best interests test is not
necessarily the best test and that it could be overly dependent on the value system of the
decision-maker. Many of the factors that are considered important to the best interests
test may not have good basis for comparison and they have contributed to the
medicalisation of many legal and ethical issues. The principle of autonomy and the
principle that non-therapeutic sterilisation can never be performed without the consent
of the patient are the two principles that should be used to safeguard the interests of the
mentally disordered adults. These two principles are used to propose a set of guiding
principle for decision-makers in Malaysia after taking into consideration the existing
regulatory conditions in Malaysia. |
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