Civil unions in Italy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Same-sex civil unions

Recognized nationwide in:

Denmark (1989) | Norway (1993)

Israel1 (1994) | Sweden (1995)

Greenland (1996) | Hungary1 (1996)

Iceland (1996) | France (1999)

Germany (2001) | Portugal (2001)

Finland (2002) | Croatia1 (2003)

Austria1 (2003) | Luxembourg (2004)

New Zealand (2005) | United Kingdom (2005)

Andorra (2005) | Czech Republic (2006)

Slovenia (2006) | Switzerland (2007)

Colombia (2007)

Was recognized before legalization of same-sex marriage in:

Netherlands (nationwide) (1998)

Spain (12 of 17 communities) (1998)

South Africa2 (1999)

Belgium (nationwide) (2000)

Canada (QC, NS and MB)3 (2001)

Recognized in some regions in:

United States (6 states+DC) (1997) : CA, CT, HA, ME, NJ, VE

Argentina (Buenos Aires, Rio Negro) (2003)

Australia (Tasmania) (2004)

Italy (Some municipallies) (2004)

Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) (2004)

Mexico (Mexico City and Coahuila) (2007)

Recognition debated in:

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Brazil

Chile

Costa Rica

Greece

Ireland

Italy

Liechtenstein

Mexico

Poland

Taiwan

United States

Uruguay

Notes:

1 - In form of unregistered cohabitation.

2 - Explicitly referred to as the "civil unions Act" in South Africa.

3 - Explicitly referred to as "civil unions" in Quebec (2002), and called "domestic partnership" in Nova Scotia (2001). In Manitoba (2002) and marriage extended to same-sex partners nationwide (2005).

See also

Same-sex marriage

Registered partnership

Domestic partnership

Common-law marriage

Marriage, unions and partnerships by country

Homosexuality laws of the world

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In 2004 the introduction of a Civil Pact of Solidarity was proposed for the first time in Italy, similarly to what is already present in France (PACS). It was submitted to the parliament, but decayed with the 2006 general election.

The newly formed left-wing government led by Romano Prodi, leader of The Union, promised [1] a law for Civil Pacts of Solidarity for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. However, various leaders, particularly Francesco Rutelli, leader of moderate centre-wing party Daisy, opposed the Civil Pacts, and instead proposed to solve the problem with a different, much lighter, solution, called Contratti di Convivenza Solidale (Contracts of Joint and Several Common-Life), actually a private agreement between the couple members.

An agreement was found in the so-called DiCo proposal (DIritti e doveri delle persone stabilmente COnviventi, Rights of people living together), which extends to unmarried couples (also same-sex couples) some rights of married couples, including inheritance and healthcare rights. The proposal is now to be discussed before the full parliament.

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, former president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), led a true battle against any form of same sex union, even defining the "de facto couples" as unconstitutional [2]. The Italian constitution, in fact, in its section named "Ethical and Social Relationships" (Rapporti Etico-Sociali), and especially on Article 29, explicitly recognizes the family as "founded on marriage". This, however, does not per se make other forms of partnership forbidden.

The DiCo proposal was expected to easily pass the lower house and faced uncertainty in the Senate where the center left coalition's majority was much slimmer.^[3] Due to the government crisis which emerged in late February 2007, the civil unions proposal has been shelved in an attempt to appease the Catholic part of the centre-left government. Prodi has even chastised members of his cabinet who went to a demonstration in Rome on March 2007 in favour of same-sex marriage.^[1]

Several municipalies and cities have recognized and registered de facto couples: however, most of these registers are only symbolic. In June 2006, for instance, the comune of Spezia in the Liguria region, adopted a law that opens the civil registry (Registro delle unioni civili) also for de facto couples, both heterosexual and same-sex, giving such couples not only a symbolic registry of their relationship, but also some benefits.

Beginning in July 2004 some Italian regions also voted to support a national law on coppie di fatto (de facto couples), both for same-sex and opposite-sex couples.

Region	Date of recognition
Tuscany	July 17, 2004
Umbria	July 29, 2004
Emilia-Romagna	September 14, 2004
Campania	September 19, 2004
Marche	December 6, 2004
Veneto	March 1, 2005
Puglia	December 9, 2005
Lazio	December 14, 2005
Liguria	March 16, 2006
Abruzzo	April 20, 2006

[edit] Bibliography

• Matteo Bonini Baraldi, Le nuove convivenze tra discipline straniere e diritto interno, Ipsoa, 2005.
• Francesco Brunetta d'Usseaux e Antonio D'Angelo, Matrimonio, matrimonii, Giuffrè, Milano 2000.
• Emanuele Calò, La Corte di giustizia accerchiata dalle convivenze, "Rivista del notariato", 2002, 5, 1272.
• Daniela Danna, Matrimonio omosessuale, Erre Emme, Pomezia 1997 (pp. 320).
• Giovanni Dall'Orto, Manuale per coppie diverse, Editori Riuniti, Roma 1994 (pp. 285).
• John Paul II, Le unioni omosessuali non sono una realtà coniugale, in "La Famiglia", n. 194, 1999, pp. 78-81. Reassess the Catholic refuse to consider as a "family" any union between two persons of the same sex.
• Cesarina Manassero, Nuovi spazi di tutela per i conviventi, "Giur. merito" 2003, 6, 1327.
• Emanuele Rossi, Famiglia fondata sul matrimonio e unioni civili: profili costituzionali ed evoluzione giuridica, in "Questione Giustizia", 19, fasc. 3, p. 454.
• VV. AA., Bioetica. Rivista interdisciplinare, Guerini e associati, Anno XII, n. 1, 2005. Special issue on Civil Unions. Offers also a non-Catholic perspective.

[edit] External links

• Disciplina del patto civile di solidarietà e delle unioni di fatto (3296).
• Disposizioni in materia di istituzione del Registro delle unioni civili di coppie dello stesso sesso o di sesso diverso e di possibilità per le persone dello stesso sesso di accedere all'istituto del matrimonio (2982)
• Un Pacs avanti. Website of the "National campaign for the Pacs".
• Liff. Website of the Lega italiana famiglie di fatto.
• Proposta di legge di Franco Grillini ed altri del Patto civile di solidarietà e Unioni di fatto, 20 ottobre 2002. Never discussed in the Italian Parliament.
• Vogliamo i Pacs. ORA. A blog.