A long line of cases before the European Court of Human Rights has established that the refusal to pay various social security benefits, which a widow would receive, to a man amounts to sex discrimination. The UK government changed its policy in April 2001, but the ECHR has dealt with a raft of claims relating to refusals before that date. Most have simply been settled by payment of the relevant amount of benefit. This case, however, is an example of where certain issues have needed determination by the court.