The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Britain’s age discrimination laws that allow employers to retire employees at the age of 65 is not unlawful. The Court ruled that the policy as long as it had a legitimate aim in respect of economic or social policy.

The case will now be remitted to the High Court in England to determine whether the Government has made out a case that the policy does promote legitimate economic or social objectives. That however is expected to be a formality.
Age concern who brought the case expressed disappointment at the outcome. Its director Gordon Lishman said,
"We are disappointed with the ECJ's judgment which sends the
message that ageism is less important than other forms of discrimination, but we will continue our fight to ensure that older British workers are judged on their skills and abilities rather than their age.

"The government continues to consign tens of thousands of willing and able older workers to the scrapheap. It is time for ministers to find the courage of their convictions and abolish the default retirement age without further delay."


The law is subject to a formal review in 2011.