SMITH v. THE UNITED KINGDOM
Inadmissible
David Thór Björgvinsson;Giovanni Bonello;Lech Garlicki;Ledi Bianku;Mihai Poalelungi;Nicolas Bratza
The applicant, Mr Brian Smith, is a British national who was born in 1941 and lives in Southshields. He was represented before the Court by Mr P. Durkin, an appeals tribunal representative in Southshields. 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 April 1998. In 2002, the applicant made a claim for widows’ benefits, namely Widow’s Payment and Widow’s Pension. On 13 June 2002 the applicant was informed that his claim had been disallowed as he was not a woman. This decision was confirmed by an appeal tribunal on 2 August 2002. 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 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.