Decision of the Court of Cassation, I Civil Section, No. 15343 of 25 July 2016

With this decision, the Court of Cassation confirmed that it was unlawful to deny the transcription in Italy of a marriage celebrated by means of telematics between an Italian woman and a Pakistan citizen. Under Italian private international law, marriage may be celebrated in accordance with the national law of one of the spouses (Article 28 of law No. 218/1995), and celebration via telematics is allowed under Pakistan legislation. Moreover, there were no public order principles involved in the case to deny the transcription in Italy. When assessing respect for public order, the Italian authority has to take into account the fundamental values of the national legal order. Concerning marriage, these include genuine and free consent by the spouses; whether or not the spouses are present in the same place for celebration is irrelevant.