Deadline: 23 February 2024

The Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Dr. Claudia Mahler, will focus her next thematic report on legal capacity and informed consent of older persons. The report will be presented to the 57th session of the Human Rights Council in September 2024. In this report, the Independent Expert will examine the human rights of older persons who are deprived of legal capacity and the ability to provide informed consent, as well as the underlying causes for the restriction of these rights in old age. The report will take stock of laws and polices that address issues of decision-making autonomy, legal capacity, and informed consent for older persons, including measures in place to assist older persons to retain their legal capacity and challenge decisions that would deprive them thereof. The report will also explore the tension between protection and autonomy that permeates discourse on the rights of older persons, and will draw on existing standards to examine how the right to legal capacity and informed consent can be understood and applied in the context of old age. The Independent Expert will address the issue from an intersectional perspective, in exploring the interactions with other social factors such as gender, sex, race, ethnicity, language, Indigenous identity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, social status, place of origin, and immigration status. The objective of the report is to provide a catalogue of good practices put in place by Governments, as well as an analysis of the gaps in the existing framework and the challenges faced by relevant stakeholders.

Objectives

Purpose: To inform the report of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons on legal capacity and informed consent of older persons to the 57th session of the Human Rights Council.

Scope

Input/comments may be sent by e-mail. They must be received by 23 February 2024 18:00 CEST. Email address: hrc-ie-olderpersons@un.org. Email subject line: Input for the report of the Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons on legal capacity and informed consent of older persons. File formats: Word, PDF. Accepted languages: English, Spanish, French.