A/HRC/43/41/Add.6 Comment to paragraph 54: 37. It is written that the disability benefit "can be adjusted monthly depending on how much a person can work at a given time. For instance, if a person works at 60 per cent in a given month, she will receive benefits to cover the remaining 40 per cent. The following month the percentages could be adjusted if the person would work more or less time". 38. This is not quite how the system works, but the general idea is similar. The disability benefit is adjusted based on additional income earned rather than the amount/hours worked in a given month. When the disability benefit is awarded, a limit for additional income is determined. This limit equals the beneficiary's expected income after disability (if less than full disability), plus 0.4 B.a.5 If the person has a pensionable income above this limit, the benefit will be reduced proportionally. However, the degree of disability is not reassessed. This provides flexibility for the beneficiary because it allows them to adjust how much they work according to their own capabilities. Comment to paragraph 55: 39. Regarding the percentage of persons for whom the national insurance scheme is the main source of income, it appears that the most recent numbers for this (from 2017) is 29 per cent for persons with disabilities and 8 per cent for the population as a whole. The numbers stated in the draft report, 33 and 9 per cent, are numbers from 2015. https://www.bufdir.no/Statistikk_og_analyse/Nedsatt_funksjonsevne/Okonomi/Inntekt_og_yt elser/ Comments from the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and Public Security: 40. Concerning part K, “Denial of legal capacity”, the Government of Norway would like to suggest corrections on the following points: On the following sentences of paragraph 73: 41. “There is also an increasing reliance on professional guardians, many of whom are lawyers, who handle a high number of cases each. For example, in the County of Oslo and Akershus, 300 professional guardians represent approximately 13,000 persons, out of a total of 20,000 persons under guardianship.” 42. The reliance on professional guardians is not increasing, but stable. The use of lawyers as guardians has been reduced over the last years. The Ministry of Justice is currently working on new regulations that will limit the use of lawyers even further. 43. The number of 20,000 persons under guardianship referred to by the Special Rapporteur, contains guardianships for adults and minors, temporary assignments and some other assignments. The total number of adults with guardianships in the County of Oslo and Viken is approximately 13,000. There are 214 guardians in the County with more than four assignments as guardians for adults. They represent 5,542 persons, which entails an average of 26 persons per guardian. 44. In paragraph 74, the correct name of the ministry is “the Ministry of Justice and Public Security”. On the last sentence of paragraph 74: 45. “While in 2019 the Government sent letters to all 17,000 persons and to their guardians to inquire about the voluntariness of the mandate, only 400 replies were received, of which 72 per cent stated they no longer wanted a guardian.” 5 8 Many benefits from the National Insurance Scheme are determined in relation to a basic amount (B.a.). This amount is annually adjusted by the King with effect from 1 May, in accordance with the increase in wages. In 2018, the average B.a. was NOK 95 800 and the B.a. per 1 January 2019 is NOK 96 883.