TRIBUTE to Annette Carson, and others

A tribute to Annette Carson, an amazing woman.

After agreeing in 1999 to lodge an application for a Judicial Review, Annette Carson made her first appearance in 2002 as the representative Frozen British Pensioner before Mr Justice Burnton in the High Court in London, in a case brought by the South African Alliance of British Pensioners.

She lost her case when Mr Justice Burnton ruled that the British Government had not breached the Human Rights Act by freezing the UK state pension paid to Ms Carson, who lives in South Africa. Half a million pensioners living mainly in Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand are in the same position.

Ms Carson and the South Africans were granted permission to appeal the decision. There was now a great deal of concern regarding costs. She was informed that, despite the importance of her personal struggle as a test case, the responsibility for adverse costs awarded against her, as well as costs of her own lawyers, would have to be borne by her personally.

With the prospect of six-figure sums mounting up (including the government's legal costs, which they were again expected to demand, if Annette’s appeal failed), pensioner groups in Canada and Australia stepped in to provide much-needed money so that the fight could
continue. Meanwhile the Canadian Government had been approached and also agreed to make a contribution.

At the time Ms Carson said: "I am very pleased that we are able to press ahead with the appeal. We have enough money now to cover our known liabilities. The Canadian Government has agreed to fund £50,000 of the costs, removing the risk of personal bankruptcy, and campaigners are hopeful.

(It must be pointed out that at no time did the Canadian Government make direct contributions to any of the Frozen Pensioner Court cases. However the two pensioner groups in Canada approached their Government for support and the Canadian Government agreed to reimburse some of the money which they had committed to supporting the fight. The Canadian groups were delighted to hear that their now “near-empty war chests” would be replenished in this manner.)

"I am still hoping we may be able to persuade the Canadian Government to support us with a further injection because the existing funds will not take us the whole distance. If it happens that we fall short of our needs then we will have to say 'sorry we can't go ahead with the appeal'. I can't afford to take the risk of an appeal that piles costs on costs."

Her lawyer, Graham Chrystie of City Solicitors Thomas Eggar, said: "There are strong and substantial grounds of appeal. I cannot go into details at the moment but the judge has misdirected himself in many instances. We are very grateful indeed to the Canadians who have enabled this brave woman to fight on, not just for herself but for around half a million pensioners worldwide. We have now lodged grounds for our appeal with the court.

“But we have to keep monitoring the funds because Annette Carson is a private citizen and must make sure she is covered for her own protection. What would really help is if someone came forward to indemnify her against the costs."

The appeal, which was eventually heard in June 2003, was lost.

Annette did not give up. Despite the stress and personal financial risks, she agreed to allow herself to be the face of British Frozen Pensioners again in March 2005, this time in the House of Lords. Her ability to carry on the fight on behalf of all frozen pensioners continued to be greatly enhanced by the financial support of the Canadian Government.

Nicholas Blake, QC., arguing for the Carson appeal, said to the House of Lords that it was the "lottery of where you decide to live'' that decided whether expatriates received annual increases in their state pensions.

Once more the appeal was lost, though it was not a unanimous decision - Lord Carswell wrote a very favourable dissenting opinion. This finally cleared the way for Annette and the newly formed International Consortium of British Pensioners, headed up by the Canadian Alliance of British Pensioners, to move on to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. This time her case was joined by another 12 Frozen British Pensioners from Canada and Australia. Happily, at the ECHR there is no opportunity for the UK government to demand adverse costs.

The judgement of the European Court was announced in November 2008. Unfortunately it was another loss – however this time the President of the Court, Lech Garlicki, delivered a dissenting opinion in favour of the applicants.

This brings us almost up to date. On 2nd September 2009 a final appeal was heard before 17 Judges in the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. Once more Annette Carson headed up the team of 13 Frozen British Pensioners. The decision of that appeal will probably not be announced before about March 2010.

What an amazing woman Annette Carson is. She deserves the thanks and praise of half a million British Pensioners scattered around the World.

She has devoted over ten years to our ongoing battle for justice. She has travelled, represented us in the media, suffered a great deal of stress and put at risk her own financial stability. She has been a fine example of the British fighting spirit and an amazing figurehead in our fight for Pension Parity.