The Department of Administrative Law of the Litigation Department of Nicosia achieved a very important decision in the Recourse no. 299/2016, dated 10.12.2020. The case is of particular interest, since its subject was the rejection of a request for a widow’s pension for the husband (Applicant), on the basis of a legal provision that provided for different treatment in relation to widows and widowers. With this judgment, the Administrative Court proceeded to review the constitutionality of the disputed provision (article 41 (2) of the Law on Social Insurance, L. 59(I)/2010) and ruled that this provision of the Law introduced direct discrimination against men, given that the granting of a widow’s pension was subject to special conditions (permanent incapacity for self-preservation and maintenance by the deceased exclusively or mainly), which were not required for the widows. Gender discrimination is a violation of the principle of equality as enshrined in Article 28 of the Constitution. Consequently, the Court declared this article unconstitutional because, by applying different criteria depending on gender, it discriminates between people on the basis of gender.
This legal provision was amended in 2019, but it is disputed whether, in its new form, it actually promotes the principle of equality.
Undoubtedly, it is time to change all such anachronistic provisions and views which leave Cyprus stuck in the past. For more information please contact Elena Riga or your usual contact in Elias Neocleous & Co LLC.