"The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in [the] Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status."
“1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. 2. There shall be no interference by a public authority except such as is in accordance with the law and necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety, or the economic wellbeing of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”
“1. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by … courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.”
“74. In the present case the complaint of discrimination differs from the complaint in [SG]. The adult victims of the alleged discrimination are now cast not merely as women but as lone parents of children below school age. Moreover these children are now cast as further victims of it in their own right. And, although the lone parents repeat their complaint of discrimination in the enjoyment of their rights under A1P1 of the Convention, both they and their children now complain of it in relation to the enjoyment of their respective rights to respect for their family life under article 8.” 75. In explaining in [SG] that a breach, if any, of article 3.1 was irrelevant to the alleged discrimination, Lord Reed, Lord Carnwath and Lord Hughes each stressed in the paragraphs cited above that in their view the alleged discrimination could not be said to be directed against children. It is clear that the government cannot import their reasoning into the present proceedings. Equally it undertakes a mammoth task in maintaining the argument that, in setting the terms of the revised cap, it was not taking an action “concerning children” within the meaning of article 3.1. If valid in relation to the revised cap, the argument would have been valid in relation to the original cap. But it was rejected by Lord Carnwath, Lady Hale and Lord Kerr; and it was specifically upheld neither by Lord Reed nor by Lord Hughes. In para 107 Lord Carnwath referred further to General Comment No 14, namely to para 19 in which the committee explained that the duty under article 3.1 applies to all decisions on the part of public authorities which directly or indirectly affect children. 76. Insofar as in the present appeals the children themselves claim a violation of rights of their own under article 14, taken with article 8, their rights should be construed in the light of the UNCRC as an international convention which identifies the level of consideration which should have been given to their interests before subjecting their households to the revised cap. 77. But can the lone parents themselves also claim that their own rights under article 14, taken with article 8, must be construed in the light of the provision in the UNCRC for consideration of their children’s interests? The interests of the lone parents in play in the present appeals are indistinguishable from the interests of their children below school age. Their claim is as parents: so, without their children, it would not exist. Indeed their claim is as lone parents: so responsibility for their children in effect rests solely upon them. And their claim is to defend furtherance of their family life from the effects of a cap on benefits specifically computed by reference to the needs of their children and themselves taken together. Never more apt than to the present appeals is the observation of Lady Hale in Beoku-Betts v Secretary of State for the Home Department[2008] UKHL 39 ,[2009] AC 115 , in para 4 that: “The right to respect for the family life of one necessarily encompasses the right to respect for the family life of others, normally a spouse or minor children, with whom the family life is enjoyed.”
“I am also driven to conclude that the government’s decision to treat the appellant cohorts similarly to all others subjected to the revised cap was not manifestly without reasonable foundation… The appellants have not entered any substantial challenge to the government’s belief that there are better long-term outcomes for children who live in households in which an adult works. The belief may not represent the surest foundation for the similarity of treatment in relation to the cap; but it is a reasonable foundation, in particular when accompanied by provision for DHPs which are intended on a bespoke basis to address, and which on the evidence are just about adequate in addressing, particular hardship which the similarity of treatment may cause”
“21. It is well established that Article 14 is not freestanding, in other words it does not prohibit all discrimination by the state: it can be invoked only if the subject-matter falls within the ambit of another Convention right. It is also well established, and is common ground in this case, that, so far as material, social security benefits are a form of property (or "possessions") and therefore fall within the ambit of A1P1. It is accordingly common ground that, in principle, the Appellants are entitled to rely on Article 14, read with A1P1, in this case.”
“104.The Strasbourg authorities indicate that, where a positive measure of the state is being considered, it is sufficient that that measure has more than a tenuous connection with the core values protected by the substantive article (here, article 8). I appreciate that this is not a classic positive modality case; but it does involve a positive measure by the state in the form of the Scheme. Whilst perhaps generous to the Joint Council, I shall proceed on the basis that that “more than tenuous link” is the appropriate test. It certainly reflects the generous width of the concept of “ambit” consistently applied by the ECtHR ”
“85. Both at the hearing before us and in written submissions filed after the hearing, Mr Brown sought to stress that the justification for the Respondent's policy is not based only on administrative or cost grounds. He submits that it also includes other factors such as social fairness and a desire to move from inefficient spending on legacy benefits to UC. However, it seems to me that this is why it is so important not to lose sight of the point made by Lord Bingham in A v Secretary of State for the Home Department, at para. 68, that, in a discrimination case, what must be justified is the difference in treatment and not merely the underlying policy. The other factors to which Mr Brown draws attention may help to justify the underlying policy (moving from legacy benefits to UC) but do not justify the difference of treatment which is in issue. This is because, but for the acknowledged errors made by the state itself in relation to these Appellants, they would have remained on legacy benefits. It is the difference in the way that they were treated as compared with others who did remain on legacy benefits (because no error was made in their cases) that needs to be justified. 86. As to cost, it is well established that cost alone does not justify a difference in treatment; if resources are finite then a non-discriminatory solution is required: see the summary of the relevant authorities in TP , at paras. 170173 (in the judgment of Sir Terence Etherton MR and Singh LJ).”