Within the framework of moving forward in establishing a new International Convention on the Rights of Older Persons, the John Marshall School of Law in Chicago, has been involved in a project to produce a declaration that will serve as a basis for discussion on the future of such a convention. Below it the text of the declaration, and here is the link to input comments and feedback:
http://www.jmls.edu/braun/declaration-responses.php
Chicago
Declaration on the
Rights of Older Persons
July 11, 2014
Preamble
(a)
Recognizing the
wisdom, contributions, and vision derived from the sacrifice and experience of
older persons and their positive effect on life and culture around the world; and
recognizing that
the great increase in life expectancy that has taken place in the past century
should not be perceived as a burden for society but as a positive trend;
(b)
Recognizing that older persons are not a
homogeneous group of people, but are instead diverse and unique as any segment
of society;
(c)
Recognizing that discrimination against any
person on the basis of age is a violation of the inherent dignity and worth of
the human person, and ageism and the social construction of old age, including
bias, stereotypes, prejudices, and stigma of older persons are forms of discrimination
that hinder the full realization of their human rights and participation of
older persons as equal members of society;
(d)
Concerned about the difficult situation experienced by older
persons who may face multiple or aggravated forms of discrimination based on
the interaction between their age and other factors such as race, color,
gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, language, religion, political or other
opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability, or other
status;
(e)
Recognizing the importance for older persons of their individual autonomy
and independence, including the freedom to make their own choices;
(f)
Considering that older persons should have the
opportunity to be actively involved in decision-making processes about policies
and programs, including those directly concerning them;
(g)
Recognizing the fact that older persons
often live in conditions of poverty, and highlighting the importance of
accessibility to the rights to the physical, social, economic, and cultural
environment, to health and education, and to information and communication, in
enabling older persons to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms;
(h)
Recalling human rights principles proclaimed in the United Nations
Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities, the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant
Workers and Their Families, the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of
Civilian Persons in Time of War, as well as other international and regional
human rights treaties and instruments;
(i)
Recalling also the Vienna International Plan of Action on Aging (1982), the International
Federation on Ageing Declaration on the Rights and Responsibilities of Older
Persons (1990), the U.N. Principles for Older Persons (1991), the Brasilia Declaration on Ageing, World
Health Organization (1996), the International Federation on Ageing, A
Montreal Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Older People (1999), the
Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (2002), the Toronto Declaration
on the Global Prevention of Elder Abuse (2002), Brasilia Declaration, Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (2007), the Yokohama Declaration (2010), the Vienna
Ministerial Declaration (2012), the San Jose Charter on the Rights of Older
Persons in Latin America and the Caribbean (2012), the Istanbul Initiative on
Ageing Congress Declaration (2013), the Council of Europe Committee of
Ministers’ Recommendation on the Promotion of Human Rights of Older Persons
(2014), the Draft Charter on the Rights and Freedoms of Older Persons,
Australian Research Network on Law and Ageing,
the Draft Inter-American Convention on the Human Rights of Older
Persons, the Draft Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights
on the Rights of Older Persons in Africa, and other international documents
promoting the rights of older persons; and
(j)
Convinced that a comprehensive international convention to protect and promote
the rights of older persons will contribute to redressing the profound social
disadvantage of older persons and promote their equal participation in the
civil, political, economic, social, and cultural life in both developing and
developed countries.
We hereby adopt the following Chicago
Declaration on the Rights of Older Persons in order to advance the creation of
an international convention on the rights of older persons.
Article 1 – Purpose and Core
Principles
(a)
The
purpose of this Declaration is to provide, advance, and promote a basis for the
development of a convention on the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights
and fundamental freedoms by older persons, and to promote respect for their
inherent dignity.
(b)
The
principles recognized by this Declaration are:
1.
Respect
for inherent dignity;
2.
Respect
for individual autonomy, including the freedom to make one’s own choices;
3.
Respect
for the independence and capabilities of older persons;
4.
Respect
for interdependence and caring relationships;
5.
Respect
for non-discrimination and equality under law;
6.
Respect
for family relationships and intergenerational solidarity;
7.
Respect
for full and effective participation and inclusion in society;
8.
Respect for
and recognition of older persons as part of human and cultural diversity; and
9.
Respect
for aging as an integral and continuous part of life.
Article 2 – Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms of Older Persons
Older persons have the following
rights and nothing
in this Declaration diminishes any greater rights granted to them that may be
contained in local, national, regional, or international law.
(a) Equality, Non-Discrimination, and Equal Opportunity
Discrimination against
older persons on the basis of age is prohibited.
(b) Quality of Life
1.
Older
persons have the right to the effective enjoyment of the right to life, to live
with dignity in old age, and to make decisions about the quality of their
lives.
2.
Older persons
have the right to support in making decisions regarding their present and
future circumstances.
(c)
Liberty
1.
Older persons have a right to liberty and security of person.
2.
Old age should never justify a deprivation of liberty.
3.
Older
persons have the right to personal mobility with the greatest possible
independence.
4.
Older persons have the right to liberty of movement, freedom to
choose their residence, and the right to a nationality.
(d) Equality Before the Law
1.
Older
persons have the right to equality before the law.
2.
Older
persons have the right to access to justice on an equal basis with others.
3. Older
persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to
the equal protection and equal benefits of the law.
4.
Denial of legal capacity on the basis of old age is prohibited.
5.
Older persons have the right to assistance and support in the
exercise of their legal capacity.
(e) Health and Long Term Care
1.
Older
persons have the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical
and mental health and long term care without discrimination on the basis of age,
including access to public health, preventive medicine, palliative care, and rehabilitation.
2.
Older
persons have the right to the benefits of scientific progress and health and
long term care related research.
3.
Older
persons have the right to self-determination in health and long term care related
matters and to make such decisions based on informed consent.
4.
Older
persons have the right to dignity, privacy, and autonomy in making health and
long term care related decisions.
5.
Older
persons have the right to express their wishes and preferences regarding future
health and long term care related decisions and to have those expressions respected.
6.
Older
persons have the right to assistance and support in receiving, understanding,
and processing information in making informed health and long term care related
decisions.
(f)
Adequate Standard of Living
Older persons have the right to an adequate standard of living,
including the right to food, water, clothing, and housing, and to improve their
living conditions without discrimination on the basis of age.
(g) Housing
1.
Older
persons have the right to adequate housing.
2.
Older persons
have the right to choose on an equal basis with others their place of residence,
the persons with whom they may live, and they are not obliged to live in any
particular living arrangement.
3.
Older
persons have the right to security of tenure free from disproportionate
interference.
(h) Living Independently and Being Included
in the Community
1.
Older persons have the right to live independently and to make
choices to facilitate their full inclusion and participation in the community.
2.
Older
persons have the right to access and choose a range of in-home formal or
informal care and other community support services. This includes personal
assistance necessary to support independent living and inclusion in the
community and to prevent isolation or segregation from the community.
3.
Older
persons have the right to community services and facilities that are responsive
to their needs.
4.
Older
persons have the right to participate fully in all aspects of life, including
equal access to the physical environment, transportation, information,
communications, technology, and other facilities and services open to the
public.
(i)
Education
Older persons have the right to education, training, and
life-long learning without discrimination.
(j)
Work and Employment
1.
Older
persons have the right to work, including the right to participate in a
workforce that is open, inclusive, and accessible to persons of all ages.
2.
Mandatory
retirement based on age is prohibited.
(k) Land and Other Property
1.
Older persons have the following rights without
discrimination on the basis of age or gender: to use, own, transfer, inherit,
and participate in the redistribution of land and other property.
2.
Older persons have the right to exercise
self-determination with respect to their property and the right not to be
arbitrarily or unlawfully deprived of their property.
(l)
Freedom from Torture or Cruel, Inhuman, or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment
Older persons have the right to be free from
torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.
(m)Freedom from Exploitation, Concealment, Violence, Abuse, and
Neglect
1.
Older persons have a right to be free from all forms of exploitation,
concealment, violence, abuse, and neglect.
2.
Older
persons have the right to recovery and reintegration when exploitation, concealment,
violence, abuse, or neglect is committed against them.
3.
Older
persons have the right to recovery and reintegration in an environment that
fosters dignity, health, well-being, self-respect, and autonomy, and is sensitive
to self-identification and personhood.
4.
Older
persons have the right to be free from medical abuse, including nonconsensual
treatment, medication, experimentation, and hospitalization.
5.
Older
persons may not be denied medical treatment or have medical treatment limited on
the basis of age.
(n) Freedom of Expression and Access to
Information
Older persons have the right to freedom of expression and
opinion, including, the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and
ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of
their choice.
(o) Freedom of Association
Older persons have the right to freedom of association and to
create their own associations.
(p) Respect for Privacy
Older persons have the right to privacy, in all aspects of their
lives, including, in their home, family life, communications, intimacy, health,
and financial matters.
(q) Social Protection
Older persons have the right to social protection, including
income security, without discrimination on the basis of age or gender.
(r)
Participation in Social, Political, and Cultural Life
1.
Older
persons have the right to participate in cultural life, recreation, leisure,
and sport.
2.
Older
persons have the right to exercise political rights, including the right to
vote, stand for office, and participate in the political process.
(s)
Right to Assistance
Older persons have the right to assistance in exercising the
rights in this Declaration.
Article 3 - Obligations of States
with Respect to Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Older Persons
(a)
Each State
should ensure and promote the full realization and exercise of all human rights
and fundamental freedoms for older persons without discrimination of any kind
on the basis of age. To this end, each State
should:
1.
Adopt
appropriate legislative, administrative, and other measures to implement the
rights recognized in this Declaration;
2.
Take all
appropriate measures, including legislation, to modify or abolish existing
laws, regulations, customs, and practices that constitute discrimination
against older persons;
3.
Take
into account the protection and promotion of the human rights of older persons
in all policies and programs;
4.
Promote
research and development of universally-designed goods, services, equipment, facilities,
and technology to meet the specific needs of older persons;
5.
Provide accessible
information to older persons about all forms of assistance, support services,
facilities, technology, scientific progress, and health-related research;
6.
Promote,
train, and support formal and informal caregivers, including family members,
working with older persons;
7.
Take
measures to ensure access to justice by older persons;
8.
Prevent
the occurrence of exploitation, violence, abuse, or neglect;
9.
Ensure
that independent authorities effectively monitor facilities and programs serving
older persons;
10.Ensure that age-related laws, policies, and practices, including
protection services against exploitation, violence, abuse, and neglect are
sensitive to race, color, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status, disability, and other appropriate factors;
11.Adopt laws, policies, and practices to ensure that instances of
exploitation, violence, abuse, or neglect of older persons are identified,
investigated and, where appropriate, prosecuted; and
12.Protect the privacy of older persons in all aspects of life,
including, in their home, family life, communications, intimacy, health, and
financial matters.
(b)
With regard
to economic, social, and cultural rights, each State should take measures to
the maximum of its available resources and, where needed, within the framework
of international cooperation, with a view to achieving progressively the full
realization of these rights, without prejudice to those obligations contained
in the present Declaration that are immediately applicable under international
law.
(c)
In
developing and implementing this Declaration, each State should closely consult
with and actively involve the participation of older persons directly and
through their representative organizations.
(d)
Nothing in this Declaration diminishes any
greater rights granted to older persons that may be contained in local,
national, regional, or international law.
(e)
The
provisions of this Declaration should extend to all parts of federal states
without any limitations or exceptions.
(f) Each State should
guarantee effective legal protection against all forms of discrimination
against older persons in all aspects of their lives, including direct
discrimination, indirect discrimination, failure to provide reasonable
accommodation, discrimination by association, discrimination based on
perception, and discrimination based on more than one characteristic.
(g) Each State should
take active measures to ensure non-discrimination against older persons in
areas where they may face particular historical discrimination, such as access
to financial services, employment, and insurance.
(h) Each State
should ensure that health and long term care are accessible, affordable,
available, acceptable, and of adequate quality.
(i)
Each State should recognize the autonomy of older persons and take
appropriate steps to support their decisions to live independently where
appropriate, and to promote their full inclusion and participation in the
community.
(j)
Each State should
take steps to educate older persons about this Declaration and of their rights
under local, national, regional, and international law.
(k) Each State should ensure, without discrimination
on the basis of age or gender, the rights of older persons to own, transfer,
inherit, and participate in the redistribution of land and other property.
(l)
Each State should respond without delay to reports or allegations
of abuse or maltreatment of older persons, especially those who are in
detention facilities or are otherwise deprived of their liberty.
(m)Each State should protect older persons
from unnecessary pain and suffering by providing access to health care and
palliative care.
(n) Each State should
protect older persons from unnecessary use of physical and chemical restraints.
(o) Each State should
prevent and prosecute exploitation, concealment, violence, abuse, and neglect of
older persons.
(p) Each State should recognize and protect family and other private
relationships of older persons, including grandparenthood, and relationships of
extended caregiving.
(q) Each State should provide social protection, including income security, to
older persons without discrimination on the basis of gender.
(r)
Each
State should provide assistance to older persons in exercising their rights in
this Declaration
(s)
Each
State should closely consult with and actively involve older persons and their
representative associations in developing legislation and policies affecting
their rights in this Declaration.
(t) Each
State should protect the rights of older persons during armed conflicts,
humanitarian emergencies, and natural disasters.
Article 4 - Women
(a) Each State should recognize that older women are subject to multiple
discrimination, and in this regard shall take measures to ensure the full and
equal enjoyment by them of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
(b) Each State should take special measures to ensure the full development,
advancement, and empowerment of older women, for the purpose of guaranteeing
them the exercise and enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Article 5 – Older Populations with Specific Vulnerabilities
(a) Each State should take special measures to ensure the full and equal
enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by specially vulnerable
populations including the following;
1.
National, ethnic, language, or religious minorities;
2.
Stateless persons, migrant workers, internally-displaced persons,
or refugees, and their families;
3.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or intersexed persons;
4.
Persons experiencing a crisis, a tragedy, or an emergency;
5.
Inmates or detainees;
6.
Persons with dementia including Alzheimer’s disease;
7.
Persons with disabilities, including physical, mental,
intellectual, or cognitive disabilities;
8.
Persons living with HIV/AIDS;
9.
Persons living in long-term care facilities;
10.
Persons requiring in-home care; and
11.
Persons living with chronic pain or chronic conditions.
(b) The
enumeration of specially vulnerable populations in
article 5(a) should not be construed to exclude other older vulnerable
populations.
Article 6 - Emergencies
Each State should take all reasonable measures to ensure the protection
and safety of older persons during armed conflicts, humanitarian emergencies, and
natural disasters.
Article 7 – Research, Statistics, and
Data Collection
(a) Each State should support and undertake research in the field of ageing.
(b) Each State should collect appropriate information, including statistical, scientific,
and other research data, to enable them to formulate and implement policies to
give effect to this Declaration. The process of collecting and maintaining this
information should:
1.
Comply
with legally-established safeguards, including legislation on data protection,
to ensure confidentiality and respect for the privacy of older persons; and
2.
Comply
with internationally-accepted norms to protect human rights and fundamental
freedoms and ethical principles in the collection and use of statistics.
(c)
Each
State should collect appropriate information, including statistical,
scientific, and other data to assess its obligations to implement the
provisions of this Declaration and to identify and address the barriers faced
by older persons in exercising their rights.
(d) Each State should appropriately disaggregate and disseminate statistical
information and ensure their accessibility to older persons and others.
Article 8 - Awareness-Raising
(a) Each State should adopt immediate, effective, and appropriate measures:
1.
To raise
awareness regarding the rights of older persons, and to foster respect for their
rights, dignity, and personhood;
2.
To
promote awareness of the capabilities, contributions, and diversity of older
persons; and
3.
To eliminate
ageism, stereotypes, prejudices, and related harmful practices.
(b) Measures to this end include initiating
and maintaining effective public awareness campaigns designed:
1.
To
promote recognition of the skills, merits, and abilities of older persons, and
of their contributions to the family and community;
2.
To
promote recognition of the skills, merits, and abilities of older persons, and
of their contributions to the workplace and the labor market;
3.
To
nurture receptiveness to the rights of older persons;
4.
To
promote positive perceptions and greater social awareness towards older
persons;
5.
To
foster at all levels of the education system respect for the rights of older
persons;
6.
To
encourage public portrayals of older persons in a manner consistent with the
purpose of this Declaration;
7.
To
promote awareness-training programs regarding the rights of older persons; and
8.
To
promote social and education activities that engage and promote
inter-generational understanding, relationships, and cooperation.
Article 9 – National and International
Cooperation and Development
(a)
Each State should recognize the importance of international and regional
cooperation, and support efforts to realize the purposes and objectives of this
Declaration.
(b)
Each State should recognize the importance of inclusion of older persons
in the formulation of national, regional, and international cooperation and
development programs.
Article 10 - Definitions
(a)
For
purposes of this Declaration, an “older
person” is generally any person who due to chronological age or status is
considered under local or national law to be an older person or is perceived as
being an older person.
(b)
This Declaration recognizes that a specific age
at which a person is considered or is perceived as being an “older person” will
vary from country, region, culture, change in social role, personal capabilities,
and other circumstances.
Adopted on
July 11, 2014 at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, Illinois at the
conclusion of the 2014 International
Elder Law and Policy Conference organized by The John Marshall Law
School, Roosevelt University of Chicago, College of Arts and Sciences, and the
East China University of Political Science and Law (Shanghai, China).
This Declaration
is a work-in-progress and we will update or revise it from time to time.
