Aug 12, 2012
Taddeucci, a national of Italy, and McCall, a national of New Zealand, are an unmarried same-sex couple who moved together to Italy to be close to Taddeucci’s family. But McCall was denied a residency visa.
The visa was denied on the grounds that he was neither a “spouse” nor a family member of an Italian citizen. The Italian courts refused to recognize their relationship, forcing the couple to leave Italy in order to be able to live together.
They applied to the European Court, arguing that their rights to non-discrimination and to the enjoyment of family life had been violated.
The ICJ, ILGA-Europe and NELFA submitted a joint third party intervention arguing that conditioning residency on marital status constitutes discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, given that in many countries same-sex couples are denied access to marriage, and that unmarried couples are families regardless of formal legal status. As families, their relationship should be leally recognised and protected by the state.
Italy-Taddeucci_&_McCall_v_Italy-legal submission-2012-Eng (text in PDF)
Aug 8, 2012
During the 81st session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Committee will examine the combined first to third periodic reports of Thailand.
Aug 6, 2012
In July 2012, the ICJ issued a legal memorandum in collaboration with the FIDH concerning economic, social and cultural rights in Tunisia.
This memorandum has been brought to the attention of the Tunisian Constituent Assembly and the Ministry for Human Rights and Transitional Justice for their consideration within the framework of the legal reform process that the country is currently undertaking.
The ICJ and the FIDH are convinced that this reform process, especially the elaboration of a new Constitution, offers Tunisia a unique opportunity to ensure the effective protection of all human rights in compliance with international law standards.
Tunisie CIJ-FIDH_NoteJuridiqueDESC-legal submission 2012 (Download in French)
Jun 15, 2012
The ICJ today submitted a report to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, ahead of her report to the UN General Assembly in October 2012.
Responding to a questionnaire prepared by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, the ICJ’s report focusses on the following thematic and country issues:
- Global issues relevant to laws affecting judges and lawyers;
- Global issues relevant to laws affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and organisations;
- Laws in South Africa;
- Laws in Ethiopia; and
- Laws in Zimbabwe.
ICJ-SRHRDs-QuestionnaireResponse-legal submission (2012) (download PDF)
HRDs-GAReport (download the Special Rapporteur’s report)
May 20, 2012
The ICJ and ECRE presented a joint detailed submission on the situation of detention, application procedures and remedies for asylum seekers in Greece to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.
The ICJ and the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) presented a joint submission to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in occasion of a meeting on the implementation by Greece of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in the case of M.S.S. v Belgium and Greece. The submission highlighted legal and practical shortcomings in the Greek system on detention of asylum seekers, conditions of detention, judicial review and access to an effective remedy, living conditions of asylum seekers, access to information and non-refoulement.
Greece-ICJECRE-MSSSubmission-2012 (download the joint submission)
Photo credit: © Stabilisation Unit/DFID (the DFID has no involvement in nor does support this submission)
