Oliari and Others v Italy

Oliari and Others v Italy (Application nos. 18766/11 and 36030/11) is a case decided in 2015 by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in which the Court established a positive obligation upon member states to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples.

Oliari and Others v Italy
Decided 21 July 2015
Nationality of partiesItalian
Court composition
President
Päivi Hirvelä
Judges

Background

The ECtHR previously held in Schalk and Kopf v Austria (2010) that the Convention does not oblige member states to open marriage to same-sex couples, but if there is a different type of partnership scheme, same-sex couples may not be excluded per Vallianatos and Others v Greece (2013).

Same-sex marriage is not legal in Italy, nor did it at the time of the case provide any other type of recognition for either opposite-sex or same-sex couples, being the last major Western European county not to do so.

The applicants were six Italian men (three same-sex couples) who submitted their cases in 2011 after Italian courts rejected their application to marry.

Judgment

The Court held that Italy violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights ("Right to respect for private and family life") with the lack of legal recognition of same-sex relationships.

In the review of relevant law, the Court also referenced Obergefell v. Hodges, a United States Supreme Court ruling legalising same-sex marriage, which was published just a few days before the ECtHR deliberated in Oliari and Others v Italy.

However, the ECtHR found that, despite the evolution of states in favour of legalising same-sex marriage, there is no violation of Article 12 (right to marry) and thus confirmed its previous ruling in Schalk and Kopf v Austria (2010).

Consequences

In 2016, Italy implemented a law on civil unions, which can be entered into by same-sex couples.

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See also
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