ABSTRACT

By analysing the 2016 Japanese Supreme Court case concerning family caregivers’ liability for damages caused by a person with dementia who was killed by a train while wandering, this article suggests how to address similar cases in the future, considering the rights of persons with dementia to live in the community. The Court absolved the deceased’s wife and son from liability and defined four criteria to find a person liable for damages: (a) the caregiver’s living, mental, and physical conditions; (b) the conditions of the caregiver’s involvement with a person with a mental disability; (c) the nature and incidence of the problematic behaviours of the person with a mental disability; and (d) the circumstances surrounding their supervision and care. This was the Supreme Court’s first presentation of the criteria for establishing liability for a ‘Person Equivalent to a Supervisor’. To guarantee the rights of a person with dementia to live in the community, the burden on family caregivers must be reduced, and the range of caregivers broadened to include non-family providers. The Court sought to reduce the caregivers’ burden, and if these criteria are applied appropriately, the human rights of dementia patients and caregivers will be protected.

摘要

通过分析2016年日本最高法院关于家庭照顾者对痴呆症患者在流浪途中被火车杀死而造成的损害赔偿责任的案件，本文提出了未来如何处理类似案件，同时考虑到痴呆症患者的权利生活在社区中。法院免除了死者的妻子和儿子的赔偿责任，并确定了四个判处赔偿责任的人：（a）照顾者的生活，精神和身体状况；（b）照顾者与精神残疾者的牵连情况；（c）精神残疾者有问题的行为的性质和发生率；（d）有关他们的监督和照顾的情况。这是最高法院首次提出确定“相当于主管的人”的责任的标准。为了保障痴呆症患者在社区中生活的权利，必须减轻家庭照料者的负担，并扩大照料者的范围，使其包括非家庭提供者。法院试图减轻看护人的负担，如果适当适用这些标准，痴呆症患者和看护人的人权将得到保护。