CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

ALLA TYMOFEYEVA CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons. 9 This protocol was signed by five AU member states. None of them, however, have ratified this international treaty. 10 In Europe, none of the regional intergovernmental organisations have gone so far as to adopt a separate treaty on the rights of older persons. Within the three main human rights organisations, the European Union (EU), 11 the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) 12 and the Council of Europe (CoE), 13 there have been debates on the need for the better protection of the rights of older persons, but a draft treaty on the subject has never appeared on their agenda. The most significant efforts were taken by the bodies of the CoE. The Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly adopted a number of recommendations and resolutions on the promotion of the human rights of older persons. 14 Article 23 of the CoE European Social Charter (Revised) specifically deals with the right of elderly persons to social protection. 15 The text of the most effective CoE instruments on the protection of human rights, namely the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), does not contain any reference to the elderly. Nonetheless, the body responsible for its interpretation, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), has mentioned this subject in a number of its judgments and decisions. This paper pursues the objective to analyse the position of older persons based on the ECHR. It will first elaborate on the concept of the elderly in the context of the practices of the ECtHR. Second, the paper will explain which provisions of this international treaty are most frequently invoked by the elderly. The legal standing of elderly people in the proceedings before the ECtHR, including their vulnerability, will be discussed in the last and third part of this manuscript. The response to the research question “Is the existing legal framework applied by the ECtHR in its practices and the efforts taken in this regard by the signatories of the ECHR sufficient, and, if not, what can be done to accomplish further improvement?” will be provided in the Conclusions. 9 Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Older Persons. Adopted by the Twenty-sixth Ordinary Session of the Assembly, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 31 January 2016. 10 The information on the signatories and ratifications is available from URL: accessed 1 February 2019. 11 In the European Union, for instance, FRA reported that the fundamental rights of older people need to be better protected, 6 June 2018. URL: accessed 1 February 2019. 12 Within the OSCE the discussions usually concern a specific situation in a particular country. For example, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) found that “older persons are at particular risk because they are dependent on pensions and are less mobile”. URL: accessed 1 February 2019. 13 The CoE initiatives will be described further in the paper.

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