The document discusses the efforts of the British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) to promote a human rights convention for older people, highlighting the importance of human rights as essential standards that protect individuals and enable fair treatment in society. It outlines the legal frameworks governing human rights in the UK, Europe, and the UN, emphasizing the need for the UK to engage with and ratify international human rights laws to better safeguard citizens' rights. The BIHR also encourages community involvement and awareness in human rights advocacy, citing examples of successful campaigns and the impact of domestic law on protecting vulnerable populations.

1. Main title
Subheading
Age International and Age UK Conference:
Human Rights Convention for Older People
Working Towards a Human Rights Convention
for Older People
Human Rights in Practice
Sanchita Hosali,
British Institute of Human Rights
31 July
@BIHRhumanrights

2. About BIHR
The British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) is a national
independent human rights charity that is committed to
bringing rights to life in the UK
We support civil society organisations and the public sector to
know about human rights, put them into practice in everyday
life beyond the courtrooms, translating the law into a force for
positive change.
We marshal this evidence of human rights in action in the UK
to inform national law and policy change
www.bihr.org.uk
@BIHRhumanrights

3. Human rights are…
A vital safety net
Basic standards below which
the state must not go
And in some cases must also
protect and fulfil

4. Human rights are…
Based on shared values:
RESPECT DIGNITY
FAIRNESS
EQUALITYPARTICIPATION
AUTONOMY
FREEDOM UNIVERSAL
FOR ALL

5. “are basic rights to humane dignified treatment and
things I should have access to simply because I am a
human being” Service user
“are a set of recognisable principles on which [public
authorities] can base their everyday work”
Public authority legal advisor
“provide a legal framework for service providers to
abide by and empower service users to demand that
they are treated with dignity”
Parliament Joint Committee on Human Rights
Human rights are more than
values…
© British Institute of Human Rights 2013

6. Human rights legal framework
The three levels of human rights laws:
UK
Europe
United
Nations

7. Why international human rights
laws matter
Regulating (and transforming) the
relationship between the the state
and individuals

8. Developing conventions
• Drafting of international law changing
• Seeing increasing engagement of people whose
rights are at issue
• Resulting in Conventions which better reflect
lived experience – e.g. Disabled Peoples
Convention

9. Practical value for individuals &
groups
• In the UK international conventions are not usually part
of our law, which can make enforcing rights and
remedies here at home complex
(Some important exceptions – more later!)
• BUT does not mean they are toothless! Can be very
useful…
processes for holding Government to account for
the human rights promises its makes

10. Experience from other conventions
(sign-up)
• Mobilising and campaigning for UK to sign-up and be
bound by international human rights laws
Example: Council of Europe Convention preventing and
combatting violence against women
• Campaign from UK women’s sector to sign-up
• Now needs ratification!

11. Experience from other conventions
(reporting processes)
• Supporting & empowering people to submit their
evidence / views to monitoring Committees
• Taking part in 'pre-sessional' working groups where
Committees hear from independent groups
• Submit reports and information to Committees
• Work together in coalitions to submit coordinated
“Shadow Reports”
Example: Women’s groups in the UK coordinating
reporting to CEDAW and children’s sector for the CRC

12. Experience from other conventions
(more broadly)
• Holding Governments to account for implementation of
the Convention
Example: Joint Committee on Human Rights Inquiry into
Independent Living as outlined in Disabled People’s
Convention
• Seeking implementation of Concluding Observations
from the committee
Example: Right to housing in Northern Ireland

13. International human rights: about
local change
• In the UK our system requires “incorporation”
An important exception Human Rights Act
• Increasingly, international human rights are forming part of
the legal protections in the UK via the Human Rights Act
Example: Combining the HRA and the CRC to prevent
removal of a child’s mother abroad
Example: Hints from courts can use CRPD in understanding
issues such as discrimination under the HRA

14. Twin tracks: international and
the domestic
Ensuring calls for greater protections of older people’s
human rights go hand in hand with awareness and
application of domestic human rights law
Example: Supporting family life A husband and wife had
lived together for over 65 years. He was unable to walk
unaided and relied on his wife to help him moved around.
She was blind and used him as her eyes. They were
separated after he fell ill and was moved into a care home.
She was told she couldn’t go with him. A public campaign
argued that the local authority had breached their respect
for private and family life. The authority reversed its decision.
© BIHR 2012

15. Keep in touch!
www.bihr.org.uk
Join BIHR’s Human Rights on Tour: 17 free-to-
attend human rights community events (Sept-Oct)
Join celebrations marking 60 yrs of human rights
protection following WW2 and Holocaust
Check out our resources (some very useful for older people,
e.g. Guide for Older People, Cares Guide) www.bihr.org.uk
Join our mailing list www.bihr.org.uk/ebulletin-signup
Follow us on Twitter

16. Human rights: small places
close to home
‘Where, after all, do human rights begin? In
small places, close to home; in the everyday
world of human beings…where every man,
woman, and child seeks to have equal justice
and opportunity, equal dignity without
discrimination. Unless these rights have
meaning there, they have little meaning
anywhere. Without concerned citizen action
to uphold them close to home, we shall look
in vain for progress in the larger world.’
Eleanor Roosevelt