Final answer:
Competency is legally distinct from capacity, where the former relates to the legal ability to make decisions and the latter to a person's actual ability to understand and decide. Legal cases have reinforced the necessity for competency evaluations in court proceedings, distinguishing it from capacity, which is more context-specific and fluid. Hence, "capacity" is the required answer.
Step-by-step explanation:
Competency is different from capacity, which is a characteristic of the patient's decision and not the ability to make the decision itself. Competency refers to the legal and cognitive ability of an individual to make decisions. Cases like Dusky v. United States and Ford v. Wainwright have established the importance of competency evaluations before a trial or execution can proceed.
In situations involving health and legal decisions, such as the requirement for consent for medical procedures, parents can provide consent on behalf of their children because children may not be considered competent to provide consent for themselves. Legal precedents like Godinez v. Moran assert that if a defendant is competent to stand trial, they are inherently competent to plead guilty or waive the right to legal counsel.
It's crucial to understand that while competency is about legal acknowledgment of decision-making capabilities, capacity is an assessment of a person's actual ability to understand the information necessary to make a specific decision at a specific time.