Constitutional Court Says Marriage Ban Presumably Unconstitutional
17 October 2017
First success for the 5 children for marriage
In a decision of 12 October the Austrian Constitutional Court followed the arguments of the 5 children for marriage and preliminarily reversed its case-law (that segregation into marriage and registered partnerships is admissible).
RKL-president Dr. Helmut Graupner is representing the five children (and their same-gender parents) arguing that the marriage ban stigmatizes the children as illegitimate and the families as second-class families.
The Constitutional Court preliminarily agreed (explicitly so "even if marriage and registered would be made absolutely identical") and has instituted the proceedings for the repeal of the words "of different sex" in the Civil Code's provision on marriage and for the repeal of the partnership act.
The government now has some weeks for observations. The final judgment of the Court is expected not before December.
The decision of the Constitutional Court (VfGH 12 October 2017, E 230-231/2016)