CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ HUMAN RIGHTS OF OLDER PERSONS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW an assessment of this regulation, concluding with the recommendation to ponder seriously the option of adopting a new human rights treaty related specifically to older persons. 1. UN Legal Framework for the Protection of Human Rights of Older Persons This chapter identifies the main legal sources applicable to older persons within the UN human rights system and then contemplates how the concept of older persons is defined in these sources and if there is a uniform understanding of who older persons are at the universal level. The UN human rights system is understood in a narrow sense here, encompassing the bodies operating in and the documents adopted within the main UN structure and leaving aside specialized organizations associated to the UN, such as the International Labour Organizations (ILO) 4 or the World Health Organization (WHO). 5 This is not meant to suggest that these organizations have no relevance for the protection of older persons. The focus on the UN human rights system makes, however, the contribution more focussed and also easier to compare with the other contributions to this symposium. A) What are the Main Sources for Human Rights of Older Persons at the UN Level? As already said, there is no international treaty dealing specifically with the human rights of older persons at the universal level. 6 Such treaties exist, at the moment, only within the Inter-American and African regional human rights systems – it is the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons , adopted in 2015 within the Organization of American States, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons, adopted in 2016 within the African Union. The adoption of a similar instrument within the UN system has been contemplated since the early 2010s, when the UN General Assembly established an Open-End Working Group on Ageing. 7 The Group was tasked to assess the existing international framework applicable to older persons, identify gaps in this framework, and make proposals as to how to address these gaps. Two years later, the General Assembly asked the Group to “consider proposals for an international legal instrument to promote and protect the rights and dignity of older persons, based on the holistic approach”. 8 So far, no draft of such an instrument has been put forward by the Group or by any other actors, though the plan to adopt a new convention dealing specifically with the human rights of older persons enjoys support among States, especially those from Latin America, as well as among non-governmental organizations and scholars. 9 4 The ILO focuses on the labour-related aspects of the protection of older persons. In 1980, it adopted the very first instrument, albeit a non-binding one, dealing exclusively with older persons, Recommendation No. 162 Concerning Older Workers (see ILO, R162 – OlderWorkers Recommendation (No. 162), 23 June 1980). 5 The WHO is primarily interested in the health aspects of the ageing process. It has published various documents on ageing, including the 2015 World Report on Ageing and Health (see WHO, World Report on Ageing and Health, WHO Luxembourg, 2015) and publications for the general public. 6 See also RODRÍGUEZ-PINZÓN, Diego, MARTIN, Claudia, The International Human Rights Status of Elderly Persons, American University International Law Review, Vol. 18, No. 4, 2003, pp. 915-1008. 7 UN Doc. A/RES/65/182, Follow-up to the Second World Assembly on Ageing, 4 February 2011. 8 UN Doc. A/RES/67/139, Towards a comprehensive and integral international legal instrument to promote and protect the rights and dignity of older persons, 13 February 2013, par. 1. 9 See, for instance, DORON, Israel, From National to International Elder Law, Journal of International Aging Law and Policy, Vol. 1, 2005, pp. 45-72.

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