Communication No. 415/1990 Submitted by: Dietmar Pauger Date of communication: 5 June 1990 Alleged victim: The author State party: Austria Date of adoption of Views: 26 March 1992 (forty-fourth session) 2.2 Subsequently, the eighth amendment to the Pension Act (8. Pensionsgesetznovelle) of 22 October 1985 introduced a general widower pension, applicable retroactively from 1 March 1985. However, a three-phase pension scheme was set up, providing reduced benefits in the first two stages: one third of the pension as of 1 March 1985, two thirds as of 1 January 1989, the full pension as of 1 January 1995. Subject matter: Discrimination in the allocation of pension benefits Procedural issue: State party to the Optional Protocol Substantive issues: Discrimination on the ground of sex—Equality before the law—Objective and reasonable justification Articles of the Covenant: 3, 14(1) and 26 2.3 On 13 May 1985 the author again applied for a widower’s pension, which was granted at the reduced (one-third) level provided for in the eighth amendment. However, according to a particular provision of this amendment, applicable only to civil servants, the pension initially was not paid to the author but placed “in trust”. Article of the Optional Protocol: 1 Rules of procedure: Rule 94(3) Individual opinion: Mr. Nisuke Ando Dissenting opinion by 2.4 The author subsequently appealed to the Constitutional Court, requesting (a) payment of the full pension; and (b) the annulment of the provision stipulating that pensions of civil servants are “kept in trust” (Ruhensbestimmung). By decision of 16 March 1988, the Constitutional Court held the Ruhensbestimmung to be unconstitutional, but did not settle the question of the constitutionality of the three phases of pension benefits for widowers. After yet another appeal, the Constitutional Court dismissed, on 3 October 1989, the author’s request for a full pension and the annulment of the three phases of implementation. 1. The author of the communication is Dietmar Pauger, an Austrian citizen born in 1941 and a resident of Graz, Austria. He claims to be a victim of a violation by Austria of article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Optional Protocol entered into force with respect to Austria on 10 March 1988. The facts as submitted by the author 2.1 The author works as a university professor. His wife died on 23 June 1984. She had been a civil servant and employed as a teacher in a public school in the province of Styria (Land Steiermark). On 24 August 1984, the author submitted a pension claim pursuant to the Pension Act of 1965 (Pensionsgesetz 1965). He notes that the Pension Act granted preferential treatment to widows, as they would receive a pension, regardless of their income, whereas widowers could receive pensions only if they did not have any other form of income. Since the author was gainfully employed, the provincial government of Styria (Steiermärkische Landesregierung) rejected his claim, which was similarly dismissed on appeal by the Constitutional Court of Austria (Verfassungsgerichtshof). Complaint 3. The author claims to be a victim of a violation of article 26 of the Covenant, because, whereas a widow would have received a full pension under similar circumstances, he, as a widower, received no pension at all from 24 June 1984 to 28 February 1985, and has received only a partial pension since then. In particular, he contends that the inequality in pension benefits resulting from the three phases of implementation of the eighth amendment to the Pension Act constitutes discrimination, since the differentiation between widows and 122