CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ

HUMAN RIGHTS OF OLDER PERSONS IN THE CASE LAW …

2. Defining older persons for the purposes of the ECHR Who are older persons? The World Health Organisation specifies: “Age classification varied between countries and over time, reflecting in many instances the social class differences or functional ability related to the workforce, but more often than not reflected the current political and economic situation.” 16 Neil Charness and Sara J. Czaja in their publication write that a definition of old persons varies in terms of the geographical location and context. 17 They further note that a person may be considered “old” at about 57 years in Slovakia but at more than 70 years in the Netherlands. On average in the states of the European Union, a person is considered to be old at approximately 64 years of age. 18 Pernilla Lindh in her publication Les discriminations en fonction de l’âge dans la jurisprudence de la Cour names as “elderly” those persons at the age of 65. 19 The same figure appears in a number of other papers. 20 Other authors note the age of sixty as the beginning of old age. 21 Historically the age of forty-six was used in referring to someone as being of old age. 22 In Japan, the gerontological society suggests to redefine the elderly as aged 75 years and older. 23 The mentioned diversity of answers displays that there is not an absolute agreement on the definition of ‘old age’. Many factors, such as gender (women often live longer and work a shorter period of time), economic development of a country, geographic factors, climate, and employment influence the aging of a person. In the context of employment, people may be considered ‘older’ at the age of even thirty and younger (e.g. in sports, modelling, and show business). Members of the police and military often retire at around forty. On the other hand, university professors and experts in intellectual spheres tend to work until eighty and even longer. Some people prefer to retire as soon as possible and to enjoy their free time. The others are workaholics and cannot imagine a day without going to an office. A person’s state 16 WHO: Proposed working definition of an older person in Africa for the MDS Project. URL: accessed 24 January 2019. 17 CHARNESS, Neil and CZAJA, Sara. Age and Technology for Work. In: SHULTZ, Kenneth and ADAMS, Gary. Aging and Work in the 21st Century . Routledge, 2018. 18 Older people in Europe EU policies and programmes. URL: accessed 2 February 2019. 19 LINDH, Pernilla. Les discriminations en fonction de l’âge dans la jurisprudence de la Cour. In La Cour de justice de l’Union européenne sous la présidence de Vassilios Skouris (2003 – 2015) : liber amicorum Vassilios Skouris / sous la direction d’Antonio Tizzano … [et al.]. - Bruxelles: Bruylant, 2015, p. 402. 20 ROHIT, Kumar. Social Determinants of Health Among Elderly: An Anthropological Study (15 August 2013). International Journal of Research in Sociology and Social Anthropology 1(1): 11-16, 2013, p. 12. See also Defining “Old Age”, April 2002, The Minimum Data Set (MDS) Project on Ageing and Older Adults in sub-Saharan Africa. Discussion Paper, No. 1. 21 MÉGRET, Frédéric. The Human Rights of the Elderly : An Emerging Challenge (4 April 2010). Available at SSRN: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1584303 accessed 4 February 2019; ROSSET, Edward. Aging Process of Population . Elsevier, 2017, p. 101 and GUCCIONE, Andrew A., AVERS, Dale, WONG, Rita. Geriatric Physical Therapy . Elsevier Health Sciences, 2011, p. 14. 22 ZARECKI, Jonathan P., No Country for Old Men : The Changing Role of Senes in Cicero’s Political Philosophy (2014). APSA 2014 Annual Meeting Paper, p. 12. 23 Redefining the elderly as aged 75 years and older: Proposal from the Joint Committee of Japan Gerontological Society and the Japan Geriatrics Society by Yasuyoshi Ouchi, Hiromi Rakugi, Hidenori Arai, Masahiro Akishita, Hideki Ito, Kenji Toba, Ichiro Kai and on behalf of the Joint Committee of Japan Gerontological Society (JGLS) and Japan Geriatrics Society (JGS) on the definition and classification of the elderly. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017;17: pp. 1045-1047.

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