Balancing Care: Human Rights Perspectives on Family Caregivers in Long-Term Care

As European care systems increasingly depend on informal support, family members often assume caregiving roles without clear legal recognition. This paper examines to what extent such caregivers qualify as rights-holders under international human rights law, focusing on their position vis-à-vis care recipients and professionals. Drawing on the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), it identifies three types of caregiver rights: (1) Derivative rights, when inadequate support for recipients imposes a disproportionate burden; (2) Autonomous parallel rights, when caregivers' own rights, such as privacy or moral integrity, are directly affected; and (3) Autonomous conflicting rights, when caregiver and recipient claims collide, requiring balancing. The CRPD promotes a relational but subordinate recognition of caregiver rights, whereas the ECtHR adopts a balancing approach that can afford greater weight. A coherent rights-based framework must recognize interdependence and ensure principled balancing where rights intersect.