CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ HUMAN RIGHTS OF OLDER PERSONS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW The analytical paper on the human rights of older persons drafted by the UN Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2012 rightly notes that “/o/ne of the first challenges in articulating the rights of older persons may be to define “older persons” themselves as a distinct population group”. 26 As the definitions above show, there are at least three ways in which such a challenge could be met. First, the drafters of the convention on older persons could opt for a definition based on the chronological age, as is primarily the case in the CRC. Older persons would then be persons beyond a certain age threshold. This approach has so far been prevalent in the practice of international organizations, though the concrete age threshold varies not only among organizations but also among various regions. 27 The UN itself usually sets the threshold at 60. 28 The WHO accepts the same threshold for some regions (Europe, South-Eastern Asia) but lowers it for other regions (50 for Africa). 29 The European Union, on its turn, opts for 65. 30 This variation reflects the fact that life expectancy and the median age are quite different in different regions, countries, and even sub-country units. One could expect that the threshold for old age would not be perceived in the same way in countries such as Japan, Spain, Switzerland, or Singapore, where the life expectancy is over 83, on the one hand, and in countries such as Sierra Leone, Chad, Lesotho, or Central African Republic, where it oscillates around 53-54, on the other. 31 Yet, there is another important factor to consider. As rightly noted by scholars, “the ageing process is /…/ a biological reality which has its own dynamics, largely beyond human control. However, it is also subject to the constructions by which each society makes sense of old age”. 32 One way to take account of the social element of the construction of old age is to set a certain general age threshold but, at the same time, leave some space for States to adjust the threshold to their needs. This is the approach embraced in the CRC, which defines children as anyone below 18 years “unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier” (Article 1). The same scheme could possibly be used for older persons, though here, it would be certainly less common to have the threshold for old age set explicitly at the national level. The “escape clause” might then be deprived of any real meaning, with the default option turning into a more or less uniform international standard in the ignorance of the concrete realities in various parts of the world. 27 Sometimes, there might even be differences within a country. Thus, for instance, in the 19th century United Kingdom, the 1875 Friendly Societies Act defined old age as “any age after 50” but the pension schemes set the eligibility age between 60-65. See ROEBUCK, Janet, When Does “Old Age Begin?”: The Evolution of the English Definition, Journal of Social History , Vol. 12, Iss. 3, 1979, pp. 416-428. 28 See, for instance, International Day of Older Persons: 1 October, online at https://www.un.org/en/events/ olderpersonsday/ (retrieved on 3 June 2019). 29 KOWAL, Paul, DOWD, J. Edward, Definition of an older person. Proposed working definition of an older person in Africa for the MDS Project, Geneva: WHO, 2001. 30 DAVIES, Ron, Older people in Europe EU policies and programmes, Briefing, European Parliamentary Research Service, 6 May 2014. 31 See also THANE, Pat, History and the sociology of ageing, Social History of Medicine, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1989, pp. 93-96. 32 KHURANA, Hitesh, AKBAR, Shamsi, Chronic Mental Illness in Old Age Homes: An International Perspective, in IRMI, Chronic Illness and Long-Term Care: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice, IGI Global Publishers, 2019, p. 510. 26 OHCHR, Normative standards in international human rights law in relation to older persons, Analytical outcome paper, August 2012, p. 6.

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