Decision of the Court of Cassation, I Civil Section, No. 19599 of 30 September 2016

The Court of Cassation ruled on the compatibility with the international public order of a foreign civil status act (in the present case, the birth certificate of a child, son of two mothers married in Spain), whose legal effects were requested to recognize in Italy. For the Court, the Italian judge ruling on the merit has not to verify whether the foreign act conforms with or differs from the Italian law, but if it conflicts with the requirements of protection of human rights, which can be deduced from the Constitution, the EU Founding Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, and the European Convention on Human Rights. In the case, the child’s best interests, as stated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the right of persons to self-determination and to form a family were relevant.