Abstrakt
The article concentrates on the protection of human rights of older persons within the UN human rights system. It first describes the legal framework applicable to older persons at the universal level.
It gives an overview of the main sources making up this framework and it considers how older persons are, or should be, defined within the UN human rights system. In the subsequent step, the article identifies the main human rights problems faced by older persons and reveals how these problems are (or are not) addressed under the current regulation.
The final section provides an assessment of the regulation, concluding with the recommendation to seriously ponder the possibility of adopting a new human rights treaty that would deal specifically with the human rights of older persons. In addition to clarifying how the general human rights standards should be applied to grant efficient protection to older persons, such an instrument would also clearly manifest that older persons have the right to enjoy human rights just as any other vulnerable persons or, in fact, as any other human beings.