CLARK v. THE UNITED KINGDOM
Inadmissible
Giovanni Bonello;Ján Šikuta;Lech Garlicki;Ledi Bianku;Nicolas Bratza;Päivi Hirvelä
The applicant, Mr Richard Clark, is a British national who was born in 1946 and lives in Gosport. He was unrepresented before the Court. 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 7 October 2000. On 9 August 2001, the applicant made a claim for bereavement benefits under the new system in place as from 9 April 2001. On 22 August 2001 the applicant’s claim was refused. On 11 January 2002 he was informed that his application would be accepted as a request for widows’ benefits. On 14 February 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 25 February 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.