The European Court of Human Rights has condemned Switzerland for discriminating in favor of women in widow's pensions. The court considers that this differential, based on reasons of sex, contravenes the European Convention on Human Rights.
The plaintiff, Max Beeler, lost his wife in an accident in 1994, forcing him to leave his job to care for their two children, aged one and four, alone. For this, she has been able to benefit from a widow's pension, but the State stopped paying it when the youngest daughter turned 18.
Contrary to Swiss law, in a reverse situation, when the survivor is the woman, she can benefit from the pension until her death.
The plaintiff turned to the Human Rights Court on the grounds that he had been discriminated against in relation to widows, who in the same situation would not have lost their widow's pay.
The Swiss government has acted, according to its defense arguments, under the presumption that "the husband ensures the maintenance of the wife, in particular when she has children, which leads to granting widows greater protection than that of widowers ".
But the Court, meeting in its highest instance, has underlined that "only very profound considerations can make the Convention compatible with a treatment based on sex, so the margin of appreciation available to the States to justify that difference is narrow. ".
Switzerland must pay Mr. Beeler €5,000 for non-pecuniary damage and €16,500 for procedural costs.
