CEDH · PRESS;HEARINGS;ENG — 30 novembre 1999

.s800EAC49 { font-size:12pt } .sFE10DC93 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center } .s29100277 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold } .sA1D3DA2E { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify } .s9EE41C78 { width:396.9pt; display:inline-block } .s40F41F73 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:right } .sBB9EE52A { font-family:Arial } .s76CF415B { page-break-before:always; clear:both } .s32563E28 { margin-top:0pt; margin-bottom:0pt } .s4DDA3AA3 { font-family:Arial; font-weight:bold; font-style:italic } .sD35C6159 { width:1.54pt; display:inline-block } .s4598CDF { width:70.9pt; display:inline-block } .s38DD6A04 { width:18.2pt; display:inline-block } .sCB27B9E { width:16.66pt; display:inline-block } .sC5412BEF { width:51.05pt; display:inline-block } .sA36B60A1 { font-family:Arial; font-style:italic } EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS     676 30.11.1999   Press release issued by the Registrar   HEARING IN THE CASE OF A. D. T. v. the UNITED KINGDOM   Tuesday, 30 November 1999 at 2.30 p.m.     The applicant   The case concerns an application (no. 35765/97) brought by A.D.T., a British national born in 1948.   Summary of the facts   The applicant is homosexual. Following a police search of his home, he was arrested and taken to the local police station where he admitted that certain videos seized during the search contained footage of himself and up to four adult men engaging in sexual acts in his home. He was convicted of gross indecency between men contrary to Section 13 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 and in November 1996 he was sentenced and conditionally discharged for two years.   Complaints   The applicant submits that being charged and convicted for his participation in acts of oral sex and mutual masturbation with more than one other consenting adult male in the privacy of his own home constituted an interference with his private life, as guaranteed by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. He further complains of discrimination, under Article 14 of the Convention, as a group of heterosexual individuals or homosexual females involved in similar sexual activities would not have been prosecuted, there being no legislation prohibiting such acts.   Procedure   The application was lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights on 25 March 1997. The Court declared the application admissible on 16   March   1999. Composition of the Court   The case will be heard by a Chamber composed as follows:   Jean-Paul Costa (French), President Nicolas Bratza (British), Loukis Loucaides (Cypriot), Pranas Kūris (Lithuanian), Willi Fuhrmann (Austrian), Hanne Sophie Greve (Norwegian), Kristaq Traja (Albanian), Judges Françoise Tulkens (Belgian), Karel Jungwiert (Czech), Mindia Ugrekhelidze (Georgian), Substitute Judges   and also Sally Dollé , Section Registrar   Representatives of the parties   Government:   S ally Langrish , Agent , Neil Garnham , Counsel , Shami   Chakrabarti and   Deborah Grice , Advisers .   Applicant:   Francis Whitehead , Solicitor, Ben Emmerson , Counsel, Angela   Mason and Anthony Hudson , Advisers .     After the hearing the Court will begin its deliberations, which are held in private. Judgment will be delivered at a later date.   Registry of the European Court of Human Rights F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex Contacts:   Roderick Liddell (telephone: (0)3 88 41 24 92)   Emma Hellyer (telephone: (0)3 90 21 42 15) Fax: (0)3 88 41 27 91   The European Court of Human Rights was set up in Strasbourg in 1959 to deal with alleged violations of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights. On 1 November 1998 a full-time Court was established, replacing the original two-tier system of a part-time Commission and Court.