Japan is the only G7 country where same-sex unions are not recognized by national law.
of Japan the supreme court ruled on Thursday that preventing same-sex marriages is against the country's constitution, says a Japanese Kyodo News.
Japan is the only G7 country where same-sex marriage is not recognized by national law.
The decision increases the pressure on the Japanese government to protect the rights of sexual minorities in legislation more widely than at present. According to the government's position, the constitution assumes that marriage belongs only to heterosexual couples.
The highest according to the court's decision, the ban on same-sex marriages violates both Article 19 of the Constitution on the right to equality and Article 24, according to which marriage can only be concluded with the mutual consent of “both sexes”. The court also considers that allowing same-sex marriages would not cause “damage or harm”.
This is the first time that Article 24 is considered to also support same-sex marriage.
In the past, regional courts have made different decisions about whether bans on same-sex marriage are constitutional or unconstitutional.
Among other things, in 2021 in Osaka Prefecture the court rejected a lawsuit in which six same-sex couples sought compensation from the state for discrimination. Instead, in Tokyo and Fukuoka, the court recently found that the current situation violates the constitution.
in Japan same-sex couples do not have the same rights as married heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples do not have, among other things, the right to joint custody of the child, collection rights or tax breaks that married couples have.
In some areas of Japan, same-sex couples can obtain a partnership certificate, which gives them some of the same rights as heterosexual couples. With the help of paper, for example, it can be easier to visit your partner in the hospital. However, partnership certificates are not legally binding.
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