Facts
The case concerns P., an insured person suffering from severe process-type schizophrenia with paranoid and catatonic manifestations, who was recognized as being disabled to a degree exceeding two-thirds since 1963. Despite his state of health, P. had always refused to submit a disability pension claim, being unaware of the facts giving rise to his entitlement. Only in 1979 did his attending physician manage to convince him to submit the claim. The Compensation Fund assigned him a full disability pension effective 1 January 1978, limiting the start of the entitlement to the benefits to the last 12 months preceding the claim, in accordance with Art. 48(2) InvIA. P. appealed, requesting that the pension be recognized from 1 January 1968.Considerations
The Court held that, based on the case law principles set forth in ATF 102 V 117, the insured person can invoke the impossibility of acting within the time limit prescribed by Art. 48(2) InvIA even when one or more persons listed in Art. 66 InvIO could have taken the initiative to act on his behalf. However, knowledge of the facts giving rise to the entitlement to the benefit under Art. 48(2) (second sentence) is determinative only for the insured person or his legal representative, and not for the other persons listed in Art. 66 InvIO.
In the specific case, the…