MAUDSLEY v. THE UNITED KINGDOM
Inadmissible
David Thór Björgvinsson;Giovanni Bonello;Lech Garlicki;Ledi Bianku;Nicolas Bratza;Stanislav Pavlovschi
The applicant, Mr Norman Maudsley, is a British national who was born in 1946 and lives in Lancashire. 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 6 August 2000. On 26 July 2001 the applicant made a claim for widows’ benefits. On 4 October 2001 he was informed that his claim had been disallowed as he was not a woman. On 5 October 2001 the applicant made a request for reconsideration. On 15 October 2001 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 benefit was 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 Runkee and White v. the United Kingdom, no. 42949/98, §§ 40-41, 25 July 2007.