In this article, we consider the approach to decisions regarding capacity and sexual relations in the Court of Protection in England and Wales, and the boundaries drawn through its application of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). We discuss recent developments in the law following the UK Supreme Court case [2021] UKSC 52, which recast how capacity in relation to sexual relations ought to be assessed. Noting that this case has been warmly received by some feminist theorists for the centrality it affords to mutual consent, we draw on critical approaches from feminist, Black feminist, and disability scholarship, to call attention to the legal techniques and judicial reasoning in this case and the ways in which this embeds problematic norms and reinforces the marginalisation of disabled people. We call attention to the impoverished notions of equality advanced in the case and the assumptions that this appears to rely upon which obscure the realities and histories of legal intervention in disabled people's lives. We further argue that the approach in sexual relations cases appears to use capacity determinations as a vehicle to supplement gaps left by the criminal law, blurring their distinct rationalities and enabling further opportunities for control. We suggest that important insights can be gained from bringing these critical perspectives into conversation, including unsettling assumptions contained in the judgment and in mental capacity scholarship more broadly, manoeuvring us out of the perceived intractability of legal reasoning in this context, and offering productive ways forward.

中文翻译：

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（不）模糊的界限？性别、残疾和心理能力法则的动态界限

在本文中，我们考虑了英格兰和威尔士保护法院关于行为能力和性关系的裁决方法，以及通过适用 2005 年《精神能力法》(MCA) 划定的界限。我们讨论了英国最高法院案件 [2021] UKSC 52 后法律的最新发展，该案件重新制定了如何评估与性关系有关的能力。注意到本案因其对相互同意的核心地位而受到一些女权主义理论家的热烈欢迎，我们借鉴女权主义者、黑人女权主义者和残疾学者的批判性方法，以提请人们注意本案中的法律技巧和司法推理，以及这如何嵌入有问题的规范并加剧残疾人的边缘化。我们提请大家注意本案中提出的贫乏的平等观念以及这种观念所依赖的假设，这些观念掩盖了法律干预残疾人生活的现实和历史。我们进一步认为，性关系案件中的做法似乎利用能力认定作为补充刑法留下的空白的工具，模糊了其独特的合理性并提供了进一步的控制机会。我们建议，通过将这些批判性观点纳入对话中可以获得重要的见解，包括判决和更广泛的心理能力奖学金中包含的令人不安的假设，使我们摆脱在这种情况下法律推理的棘手问题，并提供富有成效的前进道路。