Council of Europe
Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland on Tuesday encouraged Italy
to pass a civil unions bill guaranteeing rights for gay couples.
"I encourage #Italy to ensure legal recognition for same
sex couples as per @ECHR & as in majority of @CoE states," he
tweeted.
A civil unions bill that would extend rights enjoyed by
straight married couples to committed gay couples - such as the
right of one spouse to inherit the other's property or pension,
or to make decisions in their stead should one partner be
incapacitated - is now before parliament.
Catholics across the political spectrum object to a measure
in the bill allowing gay spouses to adopt their partner's
biological children.
The European Court of Human Rights in July 2015 condemned
Italy for failing to give gay couples legal "recognition and
protection", and said the State must change its laws to remedy
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 and committed relationship, but
it was also not sufficiently reliable," the human rights court
said in its ruling.
The court also ordered the State to pay damages of 5,000
euros to each of the three gay couples who brought the case
against Italy to Strasbourg, and awarded another 14,000 euros to
cover legal costs.
Premier Matteo Renzi has said his government would
introduce laws on same-sex unions this year.
Lawyers for the three couples said the ruling was "a very
positive result".
The Strasbourg court noted that opinion polls have shown
that a majority of Italians favour legal recognition for
same-sex unions.
It added that Italy's Constitutional Court has "repeatedly
called for such protection and recognition".
Neither same-sex marriage nor civil unions between same-sex
partners are legally recognized in Italy but some cities,
including Rome, have a civil union register.
The court said that was not enough.
Where registration of same-sex unions with the local
authorities was possible - only in a small share of
municipalities in Italy - this had "merely symbolic value" as it
did not confer any rights on same-sex couples, the court said.
The three couples in the case have been together for years,
living in Trento, Milan and Lissone respectively, and all had
asked their municipalities to recognize their marriages.
In February, Italy's highest appeals court rejected
same-sex marriage, saying there was nothing in the Constitution
that requires the government to extend marriage rights to gays.
However, the Cassation Court added then that homosexuals
have the right to a "protective" law that would ensure same-sex
couples have the same rights as unmarried Italian couples.
The European Parliament in March called on EU member
States that have not already done so, to recognise civil unions
and same-sex marriage as a civil and human right.
The Strasbourg-based court was established in 1959 by the
European Convention on Human Rights.
Of the 47 member States of the Council of Europe, an
organization that promotes human rights, 24 have such
legislation, the Strasbourg court added.
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