Deborah Morrison Case Study 

Articles  

Article 14: Non- discrimination* 
Article 1 of Protocol 1: Right to Property/Possessions* 

Summary 

Deborah Morrison used Article 1 in conjunction with Article 14 to successfully challenge her exclusion from PSNI Reserve’s Injury Benefit Regulations as an unmarried parent following the death of her partner.   

Details 

In 2008, Deborah Morrison’s partner Kevin, an officer in the Police Service of Northern Ireland who was killed on duty. The Police Service of Northern Ireland and Police Service of Northern Ireland Reserve (Injury Benefit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 grants pension pay and gratuities for the spouses and civil partners of deceased officers to ease the financial burden that ensues after such a tragedy. 

Deborah’s application was refused on the grounds that the couple, who had been together for three and a half years and had been reliant on Kevin’s income at the time of the tragedy while expecting the arrival of their second child, were not married or in a civil partnership at the time of Kevin’s death.   

Deborah and her lawyers sought to judicially review the decision that she was ineligible for the payments under the 2006 Regulations because she was not a ‘surviving spouse or civil partner of an officer killed in the line of duty’. They argued that this piece of legislation was incompatible with her Convention rights because they treated the unmarried partner of a deceased officer less favorably than they treated an officer’s widow, widower, or bereaved civil partner. 

Outcome 

The case reached the High Court, where Judge Treacy ruled that the Regulations were indeed incompatible with Article 1 First Protocol when read in conjunction with Article 14. The judge found that it was unjustifiable to limit these provisions to married couples only, and such limitations were unreasonable. Therefore, it was ruled that Debbie had been unfairly discriminated against because of her martial status.  

To conclude, because of the rights secured within the Human Rights Act, unmarried partners of PSNI Officers should be entitled to the payments listed in the 2006 Regulations, to prevent discrimination on grounds of an individual’s marital status.  

*Article 14 ECHR: 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.” 

*Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 – Right to property 

1. Every natural or legal person is entitled to the peaceful enjoyment of his possessions. No one shall be deprived of his possessions except in the public interest and subject to the conditions provided for by law and by the general principles of international law. 2. The preceding provisions shall not, however, in any way impair the right of a State to enforce such laws as it deems necessary to control the use of property in accordance with the general interest or to secure the payment of taxes or other contributions or penalties.