PARKES and BOSHER v. THE UNITED KINGDOM
Inadmissible
Josep Casadevall;Nicolas Bratza
The applicants, Mr Neil Anthony Parkes and Mr Richard Bosher, are British nationals who were born in 1960 and 1957. The latter lives in Surrey. They were represented before the Court by Ms J. Starling, a lawyer practising 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 June 2000, leaving two children born in 1993 and 1997. His claim for widows’ benefits was made on 21 August 2000 and was rejected on the ground that he was not entitled to widows’ benefits because he was not a woman. The applicant did not appeal 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’s wife died on 8 December 2000, leaving two children born in 1991 and 1993. His claim for widows’ benefits was made on 5 March 2001 and was rejected on 6 April 2001 on the ground that he was not entitled to widows’ benefits because he was not a woman. The applicant did not appeal 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 domestic law relevant to this application is set out in Willis v. the United Kingdom, no. 36042/97, §§ 14-26, ECHR 2002-IV.