European Court of Justice (5 March 2009): The ECJ held that the default retirement age in the UK of 65 is covered by EU age discrimination laws, but can in theory be justified by a legitimate social policy objective. The ECJ however emphasised that any Member State would have to establish the legitimate aim of such a social policy to a high standard of proof. The evidence would need to be more than a mere generalisation as to the ability of a specific measure to contribute to that aim.
This case shall now return to the High Court, where the UK Government shall demonstrate such evidence. The Government has committed in addition to review the default retirement age in 2011.
