CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ HUMAN RIGHTS OF OLDER PERSONS IN INTERNATIONAL LAW is therefore useless to attempt to define exactly when old age begins”. 38 Following up on this thesis, the latter instrument defines or, rather, describes older persons as “persons whose older age constitutes, alone or in interaction with other factors, including perceptions and attitudes, a barrier to the full enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms and their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis”. 39 The text is clearly influenced by the universal human rights treaties, especially the 2006 CRPD, and it could, on its turn, serve as a source of inspiration for the universal definition of older persons. This definition, rather than setting a specific age threshold or providing an exhaustive list of features characterising old age, could thus take the common vulnerability of people considered old in the given society as the main starting point. In this manner, the cultural relativity of the understanding of old age will not make it impossible to address the shared human rights problems that stem from the process of ageing. We will see in the next section what these problems typically are. 2. The Main Human Rights Problems Faced by Older Persons Older persons are faced with various human rights problems and challenges. Many of them are not specific to older persons but are shared by other persons in the society as well. Others may hit older people primarily or in a particularly serious way. It is clear that different older persons experience different human rights problems and challenges, depending on their age, social status, family status, health state, country of origin, and many other factors. It is also clear that different older persons experience the same human rights problems and challenges in a different manner, depending on these factors. Despite that, there are certain issue areas in which older persons exhibit enhanced vulnerability which is largely shared across the group. Some of these issue areas can be linked to specific human rights, others involve several rights at the same time. This section gives an overview of the main human rights problems faced by older persons, which have so far been identified at the UN level (through the OHCHR report, the reports of the OEWG, or the reports of the Independent Expert). In her first annual report, the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons sought to identify those human rights that would be of particular relevance for older persons. 40 Relying on the traditional classification of human rights, she made a distinction between civil rights (e.g. right to life or the right to equality and non- discrimination), political rights (e.g. the right to participate in public affairs or the right to association), social rights (e.g. the right to income security or the right to work), and, somewhat unconventionally, procedural rights (e.g. the right to access to justice). 41 This approach is not really appropriate, as it implies an artificial compartmentalization of human lives. In the subsequent reports, fortunately, the Independent Expert abandoned it, opting for a problem-oriented stance instead. These reports are thus focused on certain human rights problems to which older persons are especially vulnerable. The same approach is adopted by the OHCHR in its comprehensive report on the human rights of older persons

38 Recommendation No. R (94) 9, op. cit. , p. 2. 39 Recommendation CM/Rec (2014)2, op. cit. , p. 8. 40 UN Docs A/HRC/27/46, op. cit., pp. 8-10.

41 The same approach is adopted by certain scholars, see MARTIN, Claudia, RODRÍGUEZ-PINZÓN, Diego, BROWN, Bethany, Human Rights of Older People. Universal and Regional Legal Perspectives, Springer, 2015, pp. 9-124. The United Nations and Older Persons: A Global Approach with Multiple Dimensions).

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