Decision of the Regional Administrative Court for Lazio No. 3907 of 9 March 2015

By judgment No. 3907/2015, the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio ruled the annulment of the decree of the Prefect of Rome No. 247747/2014, which ordered to cancel the transcription in the vital records of the Municipality of Rome of a same-sex marriage celebrated in Barcelona. On the grounds of legislation on the transcription in Italy of the marriages celebrated abroad, the Court held that same-sex marriage might not be recorded in Italy for it lacks the substantial and necessary requirement of gender diversity. For the Court, said legislation does not infringe Article 12 of the ECHR, or Article 9 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, nor is incompatible with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Schalk and Kopf v. Austria (2010), concerning same-sex marriage. On other hand, to introduce any modification into the vital records it is required that such measure is ordered by the judiciary, while determination from an administrative authority is not enough.