Overview of recent cases before the European Court of Human Rights (August 2018 − March 2019)
| Published date | 01 March 2019 |
| Date | 01 March 2019 |
| Author | Marcin Wujczyk |
| DOI | 10.1177/1388262719839493 |
| Subject Matter | Case commentaries |
Case commentary
Overview of recent cases
before the European Court
of Human Rights (August
2018 March 2019)
Marcin Wujczyk
Department of Labour Law and Social Policy, Jagiellonian University, Krak´
ow, Poland
The obligation to reside in the territory of a state as a prerequisite for
granting benefit to a disabled person (Belli and Arquier-Martinez v.
Switzerland)
1
This review refers to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on 11 December 2018.
The Applicants, Annick Marcelle Belli and Christiane Arquier-Martinez, relying in particular on
Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination), taken together with Article 8 (right to respect for private
and family life), complained that they had been discriminated against as Ms Belli had lost her
entitlement to non-contributory social security benefits because she no longer lived in Switzerland,
whereas persons who had been able to contribute to the scheme were entitled to benefits even if
they lived abroad.
The facts of the case
The Applicants are Swiss nationals who were born in 1962 and 1939, respectively, and live in
Armac¸ao dos Buzios (Brazil). Mrs Arquier-Martinez is Ms Belli’s mother and has been her
guardian since 2009.
Ms Belli, who has been deaf since birth and is incapable of discernment owing to a severe
disability, began receiving a special invalidity benefit in 1980 and an allowance for a disability of
medium severity in 1997. In 1982, Mrs Arquier-Martinez decided to settle in Brazil with her new
husband in order to run a hotel there. Ms Belli was placed under the parental responsibility of her
mother in the summer of 2009. In 2010 the Invalidity Insurance Office for Non-Residents (OAIE)
Corresponding author:
Marcin Wujczyk, Department of Labour Law and Social Policy, Jagiellonian University, Krak´
ow, Poland.
E-mail: marcin.wujczyk@uj.edu.pl
1. Application no. 65550/13.
European Journal of Social Security
2019, Vol. 21(1) 71–75
ªThe Author(s) 2019
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DOI: 10.1177/1388262719839493
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