Conservatives rejoiced Tuesday
after Italy's highest administrative court, the Council of
State, annulled a lower-court ruling that had OK'd the
registration of gay unions contracted abroad.
Liberals, on the other hand, were disappointed by the
ruling.
The judge who handed down the ruling, denying bias claims
on the grounds he is a practising Catholic, said he had only
applied the law.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, leader of the
centre-right government partner the New Centre Right (NCD), said
the verdict vindicated his stance against a gay-union registry
and, by implication, the NCD's resistance to a bill legalising
civil unions if it allows stepchild adoption.
"Last year my circular banning the transcription of gay
marriages contracted abroad drew controversy, sometimes even
violent aggression and a hail of appeals. Now the Council of
State has borne me out entirely: marriage between two people of
the same sex is not contemplated under Italian law, therefore
the transcriptions made by local mayors are illegal and
monitoring is the competence of the prefect. Very good," Alfano
said.
The ruling, which overturned an earlier verdict by the
Lazio regional administrative tribunal (TAR) that transcriptions
in civil registers of gay marriages contracted abroad could only
be annulled by court order, was a blow to gay rights campaigners
tired of waiting for lawmakers to give same-sex couples some
form of legal recognition in Italy.
Senator and foreign ministry undersecretary Benedetto Della
Vedova described the ruling as "a victory for none and a defeat
for all".
"It is the defeat of a country that remains at the starting
post as regards gay rights, which urgently need to be
regulated," he said.
Parliament is currently considering a bill introducing
civil unions for same-sex couples, which has already met with
strong opposition.
Last year Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino walked into
administrative no-man's-land when he transcribed the marriage of
16 same-sex couples contracted abroad into the city registry.
Alfano subsequently ordered the prefect to annul the
transcriptions and cancel them from the registry but Marino
stuck by his guns, lodging an administrative appeal.
He had the support of other city mayors around the country
who had made similar transcriptions.
The rapporteur of a bill on civil unions said she
respected the Council of State's ruling but her determination to
get her bill passed was undeterred.
"Sentences are not to be commented on, given the
separation of powers," said Monica Cirinnà of the ruling
Democratic Party (PD).
But she vowed that Italy would have a law on civil unions
"soon".
Cirinnà's bill has been held up by resistance from the
NCD, primarily on stepchild adoption.
In all, the Council of State ruled against four separate
findings by subordinate courts, the regional administrative
tribunals (TAR).
The Council of State justice who ruled against
transcribing gay marriages contracted abroad should have
abstained because he is a conservative Catholic, gay groups and
lawyers for the issue said.
"You just have to look at his Twitter profile to realise
the conservative positions of judge (Carlo) Deodato", said Maria
Grazia Sangalli of the Rete Lenford lobby, whose lawyers
promoted the cause.
The head of Arcigay, Flavio Romani, said the "Pilate-like"
verdict had a "backward feel about it".
Deodato said he had just applied the law.
"I only applied the law in a non-ideological and rigorous
way, leaving out my personal convictions which had no
influence," said Carlo Deodato, self-described on his Twitter
profile as "a Catholic jurist".
In his ruling, Deodato said a marriage was "non-existent
unless it is between a man and a woman".
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