UK family law not human rights complaint

(i) Discrimination against unmarried fathers M v United Kingdom (Application no 6638/03) ECHR TLR 15 September

Between 1987 and 1997 the applicant lived in a stable relationship with Miss D, who in June 1991 gave birth to a daughter, of whom the applicant was registered as the father on the birth certificate. When the parties separated in October 1997, they entered into a deed of separation by which the applicant undertook to pay weekly maintenance. The Inland Revenue refused his claim for tax relief in respect of his maintenance payments ‘because you were never married to your daughter’s mother’. The applicant appealed. In August 2002 his appeal was rejected, primarily on the ground that the Human Rights Act 1998 did not apply to the case, as it had only come into force on 2 October 2000, after the tax year in question.