The Rights of same sex couples under European and Italian Law (I)

Abstract

The article aims to illustrate the legal trend on same-sex couples’ rights in the European area. Starting with an analysis of the increasing urge for legal recognition of same-sex relations this article will first highlight the rising interest within the European boundaries to guarantee some form of legal protection at the international level in the ECHR system and in the EU legal system as well; secondly, it will briefly present the leading cases ruled by the Court of ECHR, the ones ruled by the CJEU, and finally, the ones ruled by Italian courts. Hence it will focus on the Italian legal system, and the Cirinnà Bill adopted in 2016. In the conclusion, the article draws some critical concluding remarks regarding the actual outcomes.