PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 13378/05) 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 two British nationals, Ms J.M. Burden and Ms S.D. Burden (“the applicants”), on 29 March 2005.

The applicants were represented by Ms E. Gedye of Wood, Awdry and Ford, a solicitor practising in Chippenham. The United Kingdom Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr J. Grainger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The applicants complained under Article 14 of the Convention taken in conjunction with Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 that, when the first of them died, the survivor would be required to pay inheritance tax on the dead sister’s share of the family home, whereas the survivor of a married couple or a homosexual relationship registered under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 would be exempt from paying inheritance tax in these circumstances.

The application was allocated to a Chamber within the Fourth Section of the Court (Rule 52 § 1 of the Rules of Court), composed of Josep Casadevall, Nicolas Bratza, Giovanni Bonello, Kristaq Traja, Stanislav Pavlovschi, Lech Garlicki and Lijiljana Mijović, judges, and Lawrence Early, Section Registrar. On 30 June 2005 the Chamber President decided to give the case priority under Rule 41 and that the admissibility and merits should be examined jointly, in accordance with Article 29 § 3 of the Convention and Rule 54A. On 12 December 2006 the Chamber unanimously declared the application admissible and delivered a judgment in which it held, by four votes to three, that there had been no violation of Article 14 of the Convention taken in conjunction with Article 1 of Protocol No. 1.

On 23 May 2007, pursuant to a request by the applicants dated 8 March 2007, the panel of the Grand Chamber decided to refer the case to the Grand Chamber in accordance with Article 43 of the Convention.

The composition of the Grand Chamber was determined according to the provisions of Article 27 §§ 2 and 3 of the Convention and Rule 24.

The applicant and the Government each filed observations. In addition, third-party comments were received from the Belgian and Irish Governments on 28 August 2007.

A hearing took place in public in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 12 September 2007 (Rule 59 § 3). There appeared before the Court: (a) for the Government Ms H. Mulvein, Agent, Mr J. Crow, Counsel, Mr J. Couchman, Ms K. Innes, Mr S. Gocke, Mr R. Linham, Advisers; (b) for the applicants Mr D. Pannick QC, Mr S. Grodzinksi, Counsel, Ms E. Gedye, Ms E. Stradling, Solicitors. The Court heard addresses by Mr Pannick and Mr Crow, as well as their answers to questions put by Judge Zupančič.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows.

The applicants are unmarried sisters, born on 26 May 1918 and 2 December 1925 respectively. They have lived together, in a stable, committed and mutually supportive relationship, all their lives; for the last thirty-one years in a house built on land inherited from their parents in Wiltshire.

The house is owned by the applicants in their joint names. According to an expert valuation dated 12 January 2006, the property was worth 425,000 pounds sterling (GBP), or GBP 550,000 if sold together with the adjoining land. The sisters also jointly own two other properties, worth GBP 325,000 in total. In addition, each sister owns in her sole name shares and other investments worth approximately GBP 150,000. Each has made a will leaving all her property to the other.

The applicants submitted that the value of their jointly owned property had increased to the point that each sister’s one-half share was worth significantly more than the current exemption threshold for inheritance tax (see paragraph 13 below).