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Human Rights of Older Persons in States of Emergency: Approach of the Council of Europe

Publication at Faculty of Law |
2023

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the law of the Council of Europe (CoE) regarding protection of the human rights of elderly in crisis situations using the examples of the armed conflict in Ukraine and COVID-19. Given this, the paper is divided into two main parts.

The first part analyses the response of the Council of Europe bodies to the measures influencing the rights of elderly introduced by the governments of the CoE member states in relation to COVID-19. The second part is devoted to the specifics of the legal regulation of the human rights of the elderly during armed conflicts, applying the example of the war in Ukraine.

The Conclusions focus on the comparison of the protection of older people in the two mentioned crisis situations, i.e. with regard to the war in Ukraine and in connection with COVID-19. The author is of opinion that the rights of older persons received more attention in times of the health crisis than during the armed conflict.