6.  The applicants were born in 1966 and 1960 respectively. The first applicant lives in Poole and the second applicant lives in Glasgow. 7.  The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. 8.  The applicants were, at the material time, serving members of the United Kingdom armed forces. The first applicant was a trained medical assistant and the second applicant was an electrician by trade. They claim that they were subject to investigations into their sexual orientation and that during the investigations they were asked intimate and explicit questions. The first applicant claims to have been subject to “numerous” investigations during the last two and a half years of his service. During the first such investigation, in 1991, he was interviewed for a period of around nine hours over three-four days. His locker was searched and items were confiscated. Military personnel attended his private home address and sought to question his partner and search his flat. The second applicant alleges that he was questioned in 1989 on five occasions, for about two-three hours per interview, that his cabin was searched and that a number of personal items were confiscated. 9.  Neither applicant was dismissed following the investigations. The first applicant was moved to another ship following the launch of a first investigation, which concluded some 18 months later when he was finally cleared. During a second investigation, he was moved to a royal navy hospital to await the results. For over two years he had been placed in administrative duties and was not permitted to work as a medical assistant as a result of the investigations. The second applicant was removed from his ship following his investigation, and given a job in the barracks for a period. In 1990 he was returned to his ship. Both applicants subsequently resigned from the armed forces. They claim that they were forced to leave because life in the armed forces had become unbearable. Colleagues were aware of the investigations and as a result they were harassed and bullied. The first applicant also complains that he was unable to do the job for which he had been trained. 10.  The applicants submitted a claim to the Employment Tribunal arguing constructive dismissal in breach of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. As a result of the House of Lords' judgment in MacDonald (AP) (Appellant) v. Advocate General for Scotland (Respondent) (Scotland) 19 June 2003, [2003] UKHL 34, the applicants withdrew their domestic proceedings on 13 November 2003.