MARCKX v. BELGIUM JUDGMENT 2 Kingdom of Belgium recognising the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court (Article 46) (art. 46). The purpose of the Commission’s request is to obtain a decision from the Court as to whether or not the contested Belgian legislation and the legal situation it creates for the applicants are compatible with the Convention, especially its Articles 8 and 14 (art. 8, art. 14), and with Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (P1-1). 3. On 11 March 1978, the President of the Court drew by lot, in the presence of the Deputy Registrar, the names of five of the seven judges called upon to sit as members of the Chamber; Mr. W. Ganshof van der Meersch, the elected judge of Belgian nationality, and Mr. G. Balladore Pallieri, the President of the Court, were ex officio members under Article 43 (art. 43) of the Convention and Rule 21 para. 3 (b) of the Rules of Court respectively. The five judges thus designated were Mr. J. Cremona, Mr. P. O’Donoghue, Mrs. D. Bindschedler-Robert, Mr. D. Evrigenis and Mr. F. Matscher (Article 43 in fine of the Convention and Rule 21 para. 4) (art. 43). Mr. Balladore Pallieri assumed the office of President of the Chamber in accordance with Rule 21 para. 5. 4. On 13 March 1978, the Chamber decided under Rule 48 to relinquish jurisdiction forthwith in favour of the plenary Court, "considering that the case raise(d) serious questions affecting the interpretation of the Convention ...". 5. The President of the Court ascertained, through the Deputy Registrar, the views of the Agent of the Belgian Government ("the Government") and the Delegates of the Commission regarding the procedure to be followed. By an Order of 3 May 1978, he decided that the Agent should have until 3 July 1978 to file a memorial and that the Delegates should be entitled to file a memorial in reply within two months from the date of the transmission of the Government’s memorial to them by the Registrar. The Government’s memorial was received at the registry on 3 July 1978. On 13 July 1978, the Secretary to the Commission advised the Deputy Registrar that the Delegates did not propose to file a memorial in reply but that they reserved the right to expound their views at the hearings. At the same time, the Secretary to the Commission notified the Deputy Registrar of the observations of Mrs. Van Look, the applicant’s counsel, on the Commission’s report. 6. After consulting, through the Deputy Registrar, the Agent of the Government and the Delegates of the Commission, the President directed by an Order of 14 September 1978 that the oral hearings should open on 24 October. 7. The oral hearings were held in public at the Human Rights Building, Strasbourg, on 24 October 1978. The Court had held a short preparatory meeting earlier that morning. There appeared before the Court: