R (on the application of (1) SC & 3 Children (2) CB & 5 Children) (Appellants) v (1) Secretary of State for Work & Pensions (2) Lords Commissioners of HM Treasury (3) Revenue & Customs Commissioners (Respondents) & Equality & Human Rights Commission

Acted for the Government, led by Sir James Eadie QC, in a challenge to the provisions of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 which imposed a limit of two on the number of children in respect of whom the individual element of child tax credit could be claimed. The Court held that the measures did not engage the appellants' rights under ECHR art.8 and art.12. The admittedly greater impact of the measure on women and the difference in treatment between families according to whether there were more than two children in the family fell within the ambit of art.14, read with Protocol 1 art.1 and art.8, but the measure pursued legitimate aims and the difference in treatment was not a manifestly disproportionate means of pursuing those aims and was objectively justified.