Elderly Care, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Age Ageing. 2013 Sep;42(5):559-60. doi: 10.1093/ageing/aft057. Epub 2013 May 21.
There are two major European Courts, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECJ deals with legal matters, mainly involving the interpretation of EU law and ensuring that the law is applied evenly across all 27 EU member states. The ECHR aims to make certain that civil and political rights of citizens in the 46 member states of the Council of Europe are observed. Most cases involving older citizens are about social policy (such as pension arrangements, equality, age discrimination and mandatory retirement). There have been few cases dealing with patients' rights, long-term care or housing. Referrals of selected cases involving old people should be considered if their rights are not being protected. In this Commentary, there is an account of how these Courts have evolved, together with guidance on whom to refer, to which Court, and when and how referrals should be made.
有两个主要的欧洲法院，欧洲法院（ECJ）和欧洲人权法院（ECHR）。欧洲法院处理法律事务，主要涉及欧盟法律的解释和确保法律在所有 27 个欧盟成员国平等适用。欧洲人权法院旨在确保欧洲委员会的 46 个成员国的公民的公民权利和政治权利得到遵守。大多数涉及老年人的案件都是关于社会政策（如养老金安排、平等、年龄歧视和强制退休）。涉及患者权利、长期护理或住房的案件很少。如果老年人的权利得不到保护，应考虑对涉及老年人的选定案件进行转介。在本评论中，介绍了这些法院的发展情况，以及向哪个法院转介以及何时、如何转介的指导。
