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Invited Perspective| Volume 29, ISSUE 10, P1027-1032, October 2021

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The Human Right to Justice for Older Persons With Mental Health Conditions

      Highlights

      • What is the primary question addressed by this study? This question must be limited to one sentence.
      • This article explores the nature and extent of barriers to access to justice that older persons experience, including those with mental health conditions.
      • What is the main finding of this study? The finding must be limited to two sentences.
      • Access to justice—the right to fair, prompt and responsive decisions by administrative decision-makers and equal access to courts and tribunals to obtain timely and effective remedies – is not only an important right in itself but also enables the enjoyment of many other human rights. Yet older persons, particularly those with mental health conditions, face a significant “justice gap.”
      • What is the meaning of the finding? This must be limited to one sentence.
      • International and national standards have been shown to be inadequate to respond to this justice gap mandating an international standard in the form of a binding legal obligation that specifically addresses older persons’ rights of access to justice, among other rights.

      ABSTRACT

      This article explores the nature and extent of barriers to access to justice that older persons experience, including those with mental health conditions. It finds that access to justice—the right to fair, prompt and responsive decisions by administrative decision-makers and equal access to courts and tribunals to obtain timely and effective remedies—is not only an important right in itself but also enables the enjoyment of many other human rights. Yet older persons, particularly those with mental health conditions, face a significant “justice gap.” Ageist attitudes, laws and practices interact with other forms of bias such as mentalism, sexism, ableism, racism, homophobia, and heterosexism exacerbating older persons’ disadvantage and marginalization, particularly those with mental health conditions, and older indigenous persons. These discriminatory practices, together with the phenomena of elder abuse, all severely limit older persons’ access to timely and responsive justice. International and national standards, both general and specific to older persons, have been shown to be inadequate to respond to this justice gap. An international standard in the form of a binding legal obligation that specifically addresses older persons’ rights of access to justice is needed urgently as part of a new international treaty on the human rights of older persons.

      Key Words

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      References

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      2. United Nations, Open-ended Working Group on Ageing, Eleventh session New York, 29 March–1 April 2021, substantive inputs on the focus area “Access to justice” Working document submitted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Doc A/AC.278/2021/CRP.4, 8 March 2021, p.2. Accessed May 1, 2021.

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