PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 65507/01) against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a British national, Mr Paul Howard Ginnifer (“the applicant”), on 29 September 2000.

The applicant was represented by Ms P. Glynn, a lawyer practising in London. The United Kingdom Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr C. Whomersley of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London.

By a partial decision of 10 September 2002 the Court decided to adjourn the applicant’s complaint in connection with his claims for widows’ benefits, relating to discrimination suffered by him during the period after the date on which he lodged his claim for widows’ benefits, to adjourn the applicant’s complaint concerning Widows’ Bereavement Allowance and to declare the remainder of the application inadmissible. It also decided to join the application to other applications (nos. 58372/00, 61878/00, 634477/00, 63480/00, 63647/00, 63961/00, 64986/01, 64996/01, 65202/01, 65478/01, 65741/01, 65906/01, 66181/01, 67100/01, 67913/01, 68173/01, 68175/01, 68264/01, 68298/01, 68449/01, 69076/01, 69323/01, 69327/01, 69491/01, 70521/01, 70741/01, 71176/01, 71428/01, 71429/01, 71570/01, 71758/01, 72656/01, 73646/01, 73653/01, 73978/01, 74961/01, 75092/01, 75126/01, 75993/01, 75995/01, 77129/01, 77424/01, 682/02, 2573/02, 4810/02, 10747/02, 13944/02, 14404/02 and 14537/02).

Subsequently, under the provisions of Article 29 § 3 of the Convention, the Chamber to which the case had been allocated, decided to examine the merits of the application at the same time as its admissibility.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The applicant was born in 1950 and lives in Yeovil.

His wife died on 17 December 1996, leaving one child born in 1991.

On 20 June 2000 the applicant applied for benefits equivalent to those to which a widow, whose husband had died in similar circumstances to those of his wife, would have been entitled, namely a Widow’s Payment (“Wpt”) a Widowed Mother’s Allowance (“WMA”) and thereafter a Widow’s Pension (“WP”), payable under the Social Security and Benefits Act 1992 (“the 1992 Act”). On 3 July 2000 the Benefits Agency refused his claim for WMA from 17 December 1996 to March 2000 because the claim dated 20 June was not made within the three-month time limit and the rest of his claim because he was not a woman.

On 28 July 2000 the applicant appealed. On 31 August 2000 the Benefits Agency wrote to the applicant explaining the reasons for its decision. On 4 September 2000 the appeal was turned down. The decision was then sent to the Social Security Appeals Service. However, such appeal was bound to fail given that no social security benefits were payable to widowers under the domestic law.

On 17 October 2000 the applicant made an oral claim for Widow’s Bereavement Allowance (“WBA”) to the Inland Revenue. These proceedings were still pending on the date of introduction of the claim before the Court and the applicant failed to inform the Court about their outcome. However, it is assumed that such claim was bound to fail. The claim for WBA in the present case would have been treated as a claim in respect of the tax years covering 1996/97 and 1997/98.

The applicant receives child benefit in the sum of GBP 70.20 per week.