NAYLOR v. THE UNITED KINGDOM
Inadmissible
David Thór Björgvinsson;Giovanni Bonello;Lech Garlicki;Ledi Bianku;Mihai Poalelungi;Nicolas Bratza
The applicant, Mr Frank Naylor, is a British national who was born in 1942 and lives in Skelmersdale. He was represented before the Court by Royds Rdw, solicitors in London. The United Kingdom Government (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr C. Whomersley of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be summarised as follows. The applicant’s wife died on 2 July 1995. His claim for widows’ benefits was made on 14 September 2000 and was rejected on 18 September 2000 on the ground that he was not entitled to widows’ benefits because he was not a woman. On 2 October 2000 the applicant made a request for reconsideration and on 31 October 2000 the previous decision was upheld. The applicant did not appeal further as he considered or was advised that such a remedy would be bound to fail since no such social security benefits were payable to widowers under United Kingdom law. The applicant was not in receipt of child benefit at the time of his claim. The domestic law relevant to this application is set out in Willis v. the United Kingdom, no. 36042/97, §§ 1426, ECHR 2002-IV and Runkee and White v. the United Kingdom, no. 42949/98, §§ 40-41, 25 July 2007.