This paper aims to analyze the meaning of the expression "legal capacity" provided by article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a right to be exercised on an equal basis with others. Based on a study in line with human rights and the principles of international law, the interpretation established by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in General Comment nº 1 is problematized. The conclusion is that the understanding of legal capacity as capacity of exercise must be abandoned, in order to pursuit a framework that focuses on the discernment, the potentialities and limitations of persons with mental disabilities.El trabajo busca analizar el alcance de la expresión "capacidad legal" prevista...