European Court of Human Rights Caselaw on the Right of the Same-Sex Couples to Marry

Abstract

ECtHR has established case law by which national authorities are obliged to ‎legally recognize and regulate same-sex partnerships. However, they are not‎ obliged to give the right to marry to same-sex partners taking into account‎ dominant moral beliefs in society. This paper aims to test such an approach‎ from the perspective of four theories of justice. The aim is to see if the consistent ‎application of precepts and principles of these theories of justice to this ‎case law makes such an approach of the ECtHR just from the viewpoint of any‎ of these theories of justice. This way what may seem as intuitively just or unjust‎ is tested against concrete and particular standards of justice.‎