Convention needed on the rights of older people

January 22, 2019

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By Awadhesh Kumar Tewari

(This is the second part of the earlier article published on 4 January 2019)

Seven of the UN’s international human rights conventions

1- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1965 (UK: 2-International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966, (UK: 1976) Rights 1966, (UK: 1976)1969)

3- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, (UK: 1976)

4- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 1979, (UK: 1986)

5-Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment 1984, (UK: 1988)

6- Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, (UK: 1991)

7- Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol 2008, (UK: 2009)

It has not ratified the Convention on Enforced Disappearance (2010) and the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families 1990, the only convention which mandates against age discrimination.

It should be noted that although the UK has accepted international treaty obligations including that to protect economic and social rights, the UK’s legal system means that treaties do not in generally take any legal force in domestic law unless they have been incorporated in domestic legislation. It is only the UDHR, covering political and civil rights, not the conventions listed above, that has been so incorporated.

Older people are not recognised clearly under international human rights laws and Age UK is one of the organisations that is calling for the creation of a new UN Convention on the Right of Older Persons.

Report (A/66/173) of the Secretary General of United Nations Human Rights to the General Assembly supports the new convention.

Religious Freedom

Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) of the European Convention on Human Rights:
What Religious Freedom Means
Religious freedom is a fundamental human right and the first among rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution. It is the right to think, express and act upon what you deeply believe, according to the dictates of conscience.

Religious Duties

1- Hindu Religion: – recognizes the status of the parents as that of God. A moral duty is put on the children to take care of their parents.

2-Islam Religion: – Said “If a young man honour an elderly on account of his age, Allah appoints someone to honour him in his old age.” (At Trimidhi) In Islam: Serving one’s parents is a duty second only to prayer, and it is their right to expect it.

3-Christian Religion: – Said, listen to your father who begot you and do not despite your mother when she is old.

“He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

A grey head is a crown of glory; it is found in the way of morality.

Case Law

The following is a summary of some significant European and UK human rights case law mainly in health and social care which are directly involves the care of older people.

1- S v Italy (1998) 26 EHRR CD 164)

2- Pretty v UK 2003

3- R (on the Application of Burke) v GMC [2004]

4- Alda Gross v. Switzerland (no. 67810/10)

5- Koch v. Germany 2011 (No. 497/09) – July 2012

6- Papon v France 2001

7- Henaf v France 2003 Application 65436/01

INHERITANCE LAWS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

These rules only apply when a person dies without leaving a will.

The rules are based partly on ‘Degrees of Consanguinity’ and partly on a system of precedence. This means that some relatives of the deceased with the same consanguinity, e.g. parents and children, do not inherit equally. The degree of consanguinity between the deceased and his intestate heirs is calculated as per Law.

Parental responsibility

If you have parental responsibility, your most important roles are to: As per UK Government
provide a home for the child
protect and maintain the child

You are also responsible for:

disciplining the child
choosing and providing for the child’s education
agreeing to the child’s medical treatment
naming the child and agreeing to any change of name
looking after the child’s property
Parents have to ensure that their child is supported financially, whether they have parental responsibility or not.

Children’s responsibility towards parents

Conclusion

I want to state my views in the light of facts as mentioned above:
When children have rights to get care from their parents and inheritance rights in property on their death. How can they ignore to do care of their parents! It might be treated a violation of Natural Justice.
Every society wants and are enjoying the Human Rights of Freedom of Religion but most of them are ignoring their religious duties in relation to their parents as mentioned above.
All of us know that global population of old age peoples is around 25% of total population. It cannot accommodate in Care Homes. Care Homes or Old Age Pension cannot take place of emotional support, care etc.

Recommendation

Till the younger generation are not involved, we can never get good result. No Government in the world is capable to do so without the participation of general public. This goal may be achieved by the following three ways:

A Convention on the Rights of Older People is vital to strengthen the rights of older people around the world.
Putting mandatory legal responsibility on younger people to care of older people (same as children rights). Because, they do not bother to follow moral duties but they have to follow legal duties because of fear of punishment.

III. A positive approach of religious leaders may be fruitful in this regard.

Note- we can appreciate the efforts of Indian Government for introducing “The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizen Act-2007”in which children are made responsible for caring of parents.

GENEVA, 29 September 2017- The UN Independent Expert on older people’s right, Rosa Kornfeld-Matte, is marking the (1 October) as International day of older person. She gave opinions: those in power today to provide decent futures for older people- nothing that they themselves will be affected by the issue in years to come.
Yet States made commitments as early as 1991 when adopting the United Nations Principles on Older Persons. We need to act without delay to make this Utopia a reality.

(Disclaimer: This article represents the opinions of the Author, and the Author is responsible for ensuring the factual veracity of the content. Eshadoot will not be responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity of any information, contained herein.)

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