The
European Court of Human Rights has condemned Italy for failing to provide legal
recognition to same-sex couples. It said the country should introduce some form
of civil union for homosexual couples.
Deutsche Welle, 22 July 2015
The
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said Tuesday that Italy remained the only major western European country that did not recognize civil partnerships or gay marriage.
Italy was
taken to the Strasbourg-based European court by three homosexual couples who
had complained that the country was discriminating against them because of
their sexual orientation. They claimed this was a breach of Article 8 - the
right to respect for private and family life - of the European Convention on
Human Rights.
In their
ruling, a panel of seven judges said that same-sex couples in Italy needed
greater legal rights, while ordering the government to pay 5,000 euros ($5,400)
in damages to each of the claimants, as well as a total of 14,000 euros
($15,500) in legal expenses.
"The
court considered that the legal protection currently available in Italy to
same-sex couples [...] not only failed to provide for the core needs relevant
to a couple in a stable committed relationship, but it was also not
sufficiently reliable," the ECHR ruling said.
Civil
unions by the end of the year: Renzi
Italian
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said recently that his government would introduce a
law on civil unions by the end of the year, convincing a junior minister to end
a hunger strike he had started in early July to protest the lack of
legislation. But the draft legislation that would authorize civil unions is
currently blocked in the Senate.
Hundreds of
thousands of people marched in Rome last month against the proposed law
legalizing civil unions for homosexual couples. But recent opinion polls have
shown a significant swing in favor of reform, following a pattern seen in
Ireland - like Italy a strongly Catholic country - which overwhelmingly voted in favor of legalizing same-sex marriages in May.
The
European Court of Human Rights was set up in 1959 with the aim to protect human
rights across the European continent.
ss/cmk (Reuters, AFP, dpa)
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