In Brazil there is a great demand for evaluation of the capacity to exercise civil rights of mentally ill patients, aiming their judicial interdiction as a protective measure. In Rio de Janeiro, the Public Attorney Office counts with a seven psychiatrists team, that among other functions, will evaluate the civil capacity of individuals, giving the district attorneys a technical psychiatric background to decide whether, or not, to demand a judicial interdiction.

Analyze five case reports in which district attorneys have demanded a civil capacity evaluation.

This is a serial cases study of five patients, where each individual was assessed. The final psychiatric diagnosis was obtained with a psychiatric evaluation of the patients, the examination of their records or relatives interview.

The five patients, each with a different diagnosis, were assessed individually. The civil incapacity is not an absolute state, but a relative situation, and the reasons and circumstances are important elements in forensic evaluation.

Interdiction is not always the best, or even the most convenient solution to social, economic and legal problems occasioned by the absence or loss of insight or self-determination caused by disability or mental illness. It is vital to characterize the absence or loss of sense of judgment, self-determination or volition, and it is necessary to determine that such damage would be significant to the specific conditions of the familiar and socio-economic profile of each citizen.