LLOYD v. THE UNITED KINGDOM
Inadmissible
David Thór Björgvinsson;Giovanni Bonello;Ján Šikuta;Lech Garlicki;Ledi Bianku;Nicolas Bratza
The applicant, Mr David Lloyd, is a British national who was born in 1938 and lives in Wirral. He was represented before the Court by Mr Stephen Cussack, Wirral Citizens Advice Bureau. 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 9 September 1987, leaving two children born in 1975 and 1981. His claim for widows’ benefits was made in November 2002 and was rejected on 26 August 2003 on the ground that he was not entitled to widows’ benefits because he was not a woman. 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.