However, the CCDH warned of potential issues which could arise in spite of the amendments.
The risk of catching Covid-19 has gone hand in hand with the impact of isolation on elderly care home residents over the past year. Their physical and mental health has suffered as a result, as many have seen a reduction in social contact. CCDH president Gilbert Pregno described the restricted social contact as "inhumane", saying that the price paid for reducing the Covid risk could have far-reaching consequences, even death, as residents struggle on a psychological level.
The commission said it appreciated the fact that a legal framework could prevent such situations from developing in future; however, the current law project does not offer any clear-cut solutions. According to lawyer Max Mousel, the homes will largely be left to themselves - an approach which has not proved successful in the pandemic.
Mousel said the CCDH did not think that ethical and human issues had been sufficiently taken into account, resulting in some homes effectively banning visits, "locking" patients up, without rules to be observed by the sector as a whole.
The CCDH said the situation required an external body to monitor compliance with human rights. The bill has planned the creation of an ethics committee - but this could have too many limitations. The commission said such a committee could handle any instance in which human rights have been restricted, rather than limiting itself to end of life situations.
Nursing staff should also be more valued, and could benefit from specific training with regard to human rights.
The CCDH said the elderly have the right to live autonomously if they so choose, deciding on where and how they want to live, with the care required. They also have the right to family life and the right to privacy and social and cultural inclusion.
To begin with, Luxembourg should ratify the revised version of the European Charter of Social Rights, which also provides for important rights for the elderly, concluded the CCDH.
