Among the 21 European countries surveyed for the LawsAndFamilies Database (www.lawsandfamilies.eu), there is a clear trend (fortified by European law) of offering same-sex couples the opportunity... Show moreAmong the 21 European countries surveyed for the LawsAndFamilies Database (www.lawsandfamilies.eu), there is a clear trend (fortified by European law) of offering same-sex couples the opportunity to formalise their relationship as marriage and/or as registered partnership, and of attaching more and more rights and responsibilities to the informal cohabitation, the registered partnership and/or the civil marriage of two people of the same sex. This chapter focusses on the timing of all these changes. In a five periods analysis, it establishes whether major partnership rights were extended to same-sex couples at the time of the introduction of registered partnership, or before, or at the time of the opening up of marriage, or between those two moments, or after the opening up of marriage. Thereby, and by calculating the same-sex legal recognitionconsensus among the countries surveyed for each of 26 selected rights, it finds nine typical sequences: Attitudes before rights; Rights before status; Bad-times rights before good-times rights; Responsibilities before benefits; Individual partner rights before couple rights; Partnership before marriage; Immigration rights among the first to be gained; Parenting rights among the last to be gained; Legal recognition before social legitimacy. Show less
January 2017 sees the publication of The LawsAndFamilies Database (ed. by Kees Waaldijk et al.). This database is one of the milestones of the larger EU-funded FamiliesAndSocieties research project... Show moreJanuary 2017 sees the publication of The LawsAndFamilies Database (ed. by Kees Waaldijk et al.). This database is one of the milestones of the larger EU-funded FamiliesAndSocieties research project. This new online open-access resource will make it easier to find and compare legal information about marriage, registered partnership and cohabitation in European countries. The database is accessible via www.LawsAndFamilies.eu.The information in the database has been provided by selected legal experts in 21 countries in the European Economic Area (typically two experts per country). In a questionnaire the experts were asked, for some 60 typical legal consequences and formalities of marriage, to what degree and since when these consequences and formalities are now available to same-sex and/or different-sex couples via one or more of three possible legal family formats (marriage, registered partnership, cohabitation). Show less
This Dutch version of this article is online at www.wodc.nl/images/jv1504-volledige-tekst_tcm44-604470.pdf/#page=67 and the English version at www.articolo29.it/genius. This article gives a... Show moreThis Dutch version of this article is online at www.wodc.nl/images/jv1504-volledige-tekst_tcm44-604470.pdf/#page=67 and the English version at www.articolo29.it/genius. This article gives a compact overview of developments in national and European law regarding same-sex partners. Over the last decades, new legal family formats (such as registered partnership and de facto union) have been made available in a growing number of countries. The number of countries that have opened up marriage to same-sex couples is also growing. Authors of comparative family law have proposed various classifications of the new legal family formats. Meanwhile, an increasing number of EU laws now acknowledge non-marital partners. The European Courts have been asked several times to rule on controversial differentiations between different legal family formats or between same-sex and different-sex partners. In the case law of the European Court of Human Rights one can find examples of affirmative eloquence which suggest that more steps towards full legal recognition of same-sex families could be expected. This is an edited and updated version of the article 'Great diversity and some equality: non-marital legal family formats for same-sex couples in Europe', that appeared in the book: M. van den Brink et al. (eds.), Equality and human rights: nothing but trouble? – Liber amicorum Titia Loenen, Utrecht, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights 2015 (SIM Special 38, p. 223-245 & 414) and in the journal: GenIUS – Rivista di studi giuridici sull’orientamento sessuale e l’identità di genere 2014 (p. 42-56). Show less
This article (also online at www.articolo29.it/genius) gives a compact overview of developments in national and European law regarding same-sex partners. Over the last decades, new legal family...Show moreThis article (also online at www.articolo29.it/genius) gives a compact overview of developments in national and European law regarding same-sex partners. Over the last decades, new legal family formats (such as registered partnership and de facto union) have been made available in a growing number of countries. The number of countries that have opened up marriage to same-sex couples is also growing. Authors of comparative family law have proposed various classifications of the new legal family formats. Meanwhile, an increasing number of EU laws now acknowledge non-marital partners. The European Courts have been asked several times to rule on controversial differentiations between different legal family formats or between same-sex and different-sex partners. In the case law of the European Court of Human Rights one can find examples of affirmative eloquence which suggest that more steps towards full legal recognition of same-sex families could be expected. This article also appeared in GenIUS – Rivista di studi giuridici sull’orientamento sessuale e l’identità di genere 2014/2, p. 42-56. An earlier version of this text appeared as chapter 4 of the report: O. Thevenon & G. Neyer (eds), Family Policies and Diversity in Europe: The state-of-the-art regarding fertility, work, care, leave, laws and self-sufficiency, Stockholm: Stockholm University 2014 (FamiliesAndSocieties Working Paper Series, nr. 7, p 42-55), and in C. Casonato & A. Schuster (eds.), Rights On The Move – Rainbow Families in Europe (Proceedings of the Conference, Trento, 16-17 October 2014), Trento: University of Trento 2014, p. 121-134. Show less
This article (online at www.articolo29.it/genius) gives a compact overview of developments in national and European law regarding same-sex partners. Over the last decades, new legal family formats... Show moreThis article (online at www.articolo29.it/genius) gives a compact overview of developments in national and European law regarding same-sex partners. Over the last decades, new legal family formats (such as registered partnership and de facto union) have been made available in a growing number of countries. The number of countries that have opened up marriage to same-sex couples is also growing. Authors of comparative family law have proposed various classifications of the new legal family formats. Meanwhile, an increasing number of EU laws now acknowledge non-marital partners. The European Courts have been asked several times to rule on controversial differentiations between different legal family formats or between same-sex and different-sex partners. In the case law of the European Court of Human Rights one can find examples of affirmative eloquence which suggest that more steps towards full legal recognition of same-sex families could be expected. This article also appeared in the book: M. van den Brink et al. (eds.), Equality and human rights: nothing but trouble? – Liber amicorum Titia Loenen, Utrecht, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights 2015 (SIM Special 38, p. 223-245 & 414). An earlier version of this text appeared as chapter 4 of the report: O. Thevenon & G. Neyer (eds), Family Policies and Diversity in Europe: The state-of-the-art regarding fertility, work, care, leave, laws and self-sufficiency, Stockholm: Stockholm University 2014 (FamiliesAndSocieties Working Paper Series, nr. 7, p 42-55), and in C. Casonato & A. Schuster (eds.), Rights On The Move – Rainbow Families in Europe (Proceedings of the Conference, Trento, 16-17 October 2014), Trento: University of Trento 2014, p. 121-134. Show less
The article resulting from this paper is online at www.articolo29.it/genius. This paper gives a compact overview of developments in national and European law regarding same-sex partners. Over the... Show moreThe article resulting from this paper is online at www.articolo29.it/genius. This paper gives a compact overview of developments in national and European law regarding same-sex partners. Over the last decades, new legal family formats (such as registered partnership and de facto union) have been made available in a growing number of countries. The number of countries that have opened up marriage to same-sex couples is also growing. Authors of comparative family law have proposed various classifications of the new legal family formats. Meanwhile, an increasing number of EU laws now acknowledge non-marital partners. The European Courts have been asked several times to rule on controversial differentiations between different legal family formats or between same-sex and different-sex partners. In the case law of the European Court of Human Rights one can find examples of affirmative eloquence which suggest that more steps towards full legal recognition of same-sex families could be expected. An earlier version of this paper appeared as chapter 4 of the report: O. Thevenon & G. Neyer (eds.), Family Policies and Diversity in Europe: The state-of-the-art regarding fertility, work, care, leave, laws and self-sufficiency, Stockholm: Stockholm University 2014 (FamiliesAndSocieties Working Paper Series, nr. 7, p 42-55). An updated and expanded version of this that chapter appeared as 'Great diversity and some equality: non-marital legal family formats for same-sex couples in Europe' in the book the book: M. van den Brink et al. (eds.), Equality and human rights: nothing but trouble? – Liber amicorum Titia Loenen, Utrecht, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights 2015 (SIM Special 38, p. 223-245 & 414) and in the journal: GenIUS – Rivista di studi giuridici sull’orientamento sessuale e l’identità di genere 2014, p. 42-56. Show less