Luis Humberto Toro Utillano, in his chapter on the protection of the rights of older persons, skilfully highlights the development of the Inter-American Convention on Protecting the Human Rights of Older Persons and the role it is expected to play. He has drawn attention to some very interesting aspects of and innovations in the Inter-American Convention and has placed the Convention in the context of the advances that have taken place on the international stage, especially in the UN framework. The aim of this comment is to build on Toro Utillano’s chapter and focus on some general issues in relation to the rights of older persons. The main aspects that will be addressed are the evolution in the language used in addressing the rights of older persons and the benefits and pitfalls of considering the rights of older persons as ‘new’ and distinct, drawing conclusions on the legal status and the novelty of these rights.