Visually impaired people will no longer need a witness to write their will, according to Constitutional Court

Since March of this year, thanks to the Constitutional Court of Colombia, people with a visual impairment will no longer be required to have a witness to write and legalize their will, as was the norm until now under the Civil Code.

When it comes to writing the last will, almost any citizen can legalize it before a notary or before witnesses; it is a free choice of whoever is making the will. That did not include people with visual impairments thanks to this code, which was written in 1887, almost 60 years before the creation of the National Institute for the Blind.

According to article 1076 of the Civil Code — entitled “will of the blind man”, since inclusiveness in language was not discussed at that time as it is now — a person with visual impairment “can only test never” (in front of witnesses). In addition, his last will had to be read aloud twice:

The citizen Eider Esteban Manco Pineda, who filed the complaint with the Constitutional Court, said that the adverb “only” of the article — marked by the age of the document — constituted a violation of the right to privacy of visually impaired people who wanted to make a document without it being read aloud, as many sighted people can do.

In addition, according to the plaintiff, the imposition that others write and read the last will of a person with this disability ignored the fact that blind people and people with low vision use and use a special writing system: braille.

According to Law 1996 of 2019, adults with any type of disability must have access to express their legal will with any communication tool available to them, including the Braille system and Colombian Sign Language (LSC).

Thus, people with visual impairments who have gone through special education and can operate a braille writing machine should be able to choose whether they want to make an open will, as do most sighted people who read and write.

After all, older persons with disabilities should not be treated with condescension by those who support them in legal proceedings:

The lawsuit was admitted by the Constitutional Court in July 2021 and this week it was voted by the magistrates in the Plenary Chamber. The result was eight votes in favor and zero against. Then, with immediate effect, the adverb “only” will be removed from Article 1076 and visually impaired people will be able to choose how they want to make their will.

Visually impaired or diagnosed people with low vision will have the opportunity to receive the water bill virtually accessible or printed in braille language starting in March. The Bogotá Aqueduct and Sewerage Company (EAAB) made this modification within the framework of its sustainable modernization model and in the search to promote equity and inclusion.

“We are very proud today to present users with visual impairments a new way to access our bill,” said Cristina Arango, general manager of the EAAB. The printing will be carried out at the National Printing Office for the Blind.

KEEP READING: