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issued by the Registrar of the Court ECHR 304 (2022) 05.10.2022 Forthcoming Grand Chamber ruling concerning the termination of a widower's pension upon the youngest child's reaching the age of majority The European Court of Human Rights will be delivering its ruling in the case of Beeler v. Switzerland (application no. 78630/12) at a public hearing on 11 October 2022 at 10 a.m. in the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg. The case concerns a widower's pension to which the applicant ceased to be entitled after his younger daughter reached the age of majority. The Federal Law on old-age and survivors' insurance provides that entitlement to a widower's pension ends when the youngest child reaches the age of 18, whereas this is not the case for a widow. Principal facts and complaints The applicant, Max Beeler, is a Swiss national who was born in 1953. He is the father of two children, whom he raised alone after losing his wife in an accident when the children were one year and nine months old and four years old. On 9 September 2010, after noting that the applicant's younger daughter was about to reach the age of majority, the Compensation Office of the Canton of Appenzell Outer Rhodes terminated the payment of the applicant's widower's pension. He lodged an objection, relying on the principle of gender equality laid down in the Swiss Constitution, an argument which the Compensation Office rejected. He then appealed to the Cantonal Court, arguing that were no grounds for treating him less favourably than a widow. The Cantonal Court dismissed his appeal, observing that the legislature had been aware of the unequal treatment of widows and widowers when drafting and amending the Federal Law on old-age and survivors' insurance and had taken the view that widowers with childcare responsibilities could be expected to return to work when those responsibilities ended, whereas this could not reasonably be required of women in the same circumstances. An appeal by the applicant to the Federal Supreme Court was dismissed in a judgment of 4 May 2012. Before the Court, the applicant relies on Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) in conjunction with Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, complaining that he was discriminated against in relation to widowed mothers with sole childcare responsibilities. Procedure The application was lodged with the European Court of Human Rights on 19 November 2012. In its Chamber judgment of 20 October 2020, the Court unanimously held that there had been a violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) read in conjunction with Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the Convention. On 19 January 2021 the Government requested that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber under Article 43 (referral to the Grand Chamber). On 8 March 2021 the panel of the Grand Chamber accepted that request. A hearing was held on 16 June 2021. This press release is a document produced by the Registry. It does not bind the Court. Decisions, judgments and further information about the Court can be found on www.echr.coe.int. To receive the Court's press releases, please subscribe here: www.echr.coe.int/RSS/en or follow us on Twitter @ECHR_CEDH. Press contacts [email protected] | tel.: +33 3 90 21 42 08 We would encourage journalists to send their enquiries via email. Inci Ertekin (tel.: + 33 3 90 21 55 30) Tracey Turner-Tretz (tel.: + 33 3 88 41 35 30) Denis Lambert (tel.: + 33 3 90 21 41 09) Neil Connolly (tel.: + 33 3 90 21 48 05) Jane Swift (tel.: + 33 3 88 41 29 04) The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg by the Council of Europe member States in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. 2