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Switzerland discriminating against men on pension benefits, ECHR finds

bbc.com

11–20 of 37 posts

Re: Switzerland discriminating against men on pension benefits, ECHR finds

#11

And apparently the ECHR had no problem with Switzerland denying women the right to vote … so WTF?

I would assume that's because they never ratified the first protocol, so Article 14 wouldn't apply to elections.

Re: Switzerland discriminating against men on pension benefits, ECHR finds

#12
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Women have been able to vote in Switzerland for, what, 30 years now? A bit behind a lot of other countries for sure, but let's not act like that has or should have any bearing on this subject of this post.

The fact that Swiss women didn’t vote until (relatively) recently is not important. The fact that the were subject to ECHR jurisdiction is. The ECHR has immense respect for countries political processes, and allows all sorts of nasty laws (gay marriage bans, etc). My point is that this sort of micromanagement does not seem consistent with the ECHRs usual hands-off approach.

ECHR, petitions, suggestions boxes, Reddit, #TeamTrees, and most forms of protesting: zero-impact.

Re: Switzerland discriminating against men on pension benefits, ECHR finds

#13
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that Swiss women didn’t vote until (relatively) recently is not important. The fact that the were subject to ECHR jurisdiction is. The ECHR has immense respect for countries political processes, and allows all sorts of nasty laws (gay marriage bans, etc). My point is that this sort of micromanagement does not seem consistent with the ECHRs usual hands-off approach.

That’s typical for courts in Europe. For example, I don’t think any EU country legalized same-sex marriage by court order. I’m also not aware of any European country where abortion was legalized by court ruling. The US Supreme Court is unusual in running roughshod over the political process as much as it does.

No post body was provided.

Re: Switzerland discriminating against men on pension benefits, ECHR finds

#14
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s typical for courts in Europe. For example, I don’t think any EU country legalized same-sex marriage by court order. I’m also not aware of any European country where abortion was legalized by court ruling. The US Supreme Court is unusual in running roughshod over the political process as much as it does.

Quoted post unavailable.

[deleted]

Re: Switzerland discriminating against men on pension benefits, ECHR finds

#15
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s typical for courts in Europe. For example, I don’t think any EU country legalized same-sex marriage by court order. I’m also not aware of any European country where abortion was legalized by court ruling. The US Supreme Court is unusual in running roughshod over the political process as much as it does.

Quoted post unavailable.

You’ve got it backward. European courts have been more respectful of the democratic process when it comes to social laws than Republican-majority Supreme Courts in the US. 5 of the 7 Justices in the Roe majority were Republicans.

Re: Switzerland discriminating against men on pension benefits, ECHR finds

#16
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that Swiss women didn’t vote until (relatively) recently is not important. The fact that the were subject to ECHR jurisdiction is. The ECHR has immense respect for countries political processes, and allows all sorts of nasty laws (gay marriage bans, etc). My point is that this sort of micromanagement does not seem consistent with the ECHRs usual hands-off approach.

That’s typical for courts in Europe. For example, I don’t think any EU country legalized same-sex marriage by court order. I’m also not aware of any European country where abortion was legalized by court ruling. The US Supreme Court is unusual in running roughshod over the political process as much as it does.

> The US Supreme Court is unusual in running roughshod over the political process as much as it does.

This is in part because the US legal system is based on common law / case law, whereas most of Europe is based on civil law.

Re: Switzerland discriminating against men on pension benefits, ECHR finds

#17
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that Swiss women didn’t vote until (relatively) recently is not important. The fact that the were subject to ECHR jurisdiction is. The ECHR has immense respect for countries political processes, and allows all sorts of nasty laws (gay marriage bans, etc). My point is that this sort of micromanagement does not seem consistent with the ECHRs usual hands-off approach.

That’s typical for courts in Europe. For example, I don’t think any EU country legalized same-sex marriage by court order. I’m also not aware of any European country where abortion was legalized by court ruling. The US Supreme Court is unusual in running roughshod over the political process as much as it does.

Why doesn’t that restraint apply in this situation?

Re: Switzerland discriminating against men on pension benefits, ECHR finds

#18

And apparently the ECHR had no problem with Switzerland denying women the right to vote … so WTF?

I would assume that's because they never ratified the first protocol, so Article 14 wouldn't apply to elections.

Thank you!

Re: Switzerland discriminating against men on pension benefits, ECHR finds

#20
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s typical for courts in Europe. For example, I don’t think any EU country legalized same-sex marriage by court order. I’m also not aware of any European country where abortion was legalized by court ruling. The US Supreme Court is unusual in running roughshod over the political process as much as it does.

Why doesn’t that restraint apply in this situation?

Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights is pretty cut and dry:

> ARTICLE 14 Prohibition of discrimination The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this 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.

I suspect the fiction of fitting a “male breadwinner” exception into this clear language became unsustainable.

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