ABSTRACT
In Case 249/96 Grant v South West Trains [1998] ECR I-621, in a case involving a person looking to maintain that her same-sex partner was entitled to the same benefits as opposite sex pairings, the ECJ held that European law did not cover sexual orientation based discrimination. The Court found that it could not extend the law beyond the explicit scope provided for in the Treaty. It also pointed for comfort to the reluctance of the European Court of Human Rights to recognise same-sex partnership as within the scope of the right to respect for family life.
