Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

European Court Upholds Custody Order Barring Father From Involving Daughter In Jehovah's Witness Practices

In T.C. v. Italy, (ECHR, May 19, 2022), the European Court of Human Rights in a 5-2 Chamber Judgment upheld an Italian court's order in a custody case in which an 8-year old's mother who was a nominal Catholic, and who had the daughter enrolled in catechism classes, objected to the girl's father involving her in his Jehovah's Witness religion.  The court ordered the father to refrain from actively involving the daughter in his religion. The European Court rejected the father's argument that the Italian court's order disproportionately interfered with his right to family life and his freedom of religion.  The European Court said in part:

[I]n the present case the domestic courts ... had regard above all to the child’s interests. The child’s interests lay primarily in the need to maintain and promote her development in an open and peaceful environment, reconciling as far as possible the rights and convictions of each of her parents.

... [I]nvolving E.[the daughter]  in the applicant’s religious practices would destabilise her in that she would be induced to abandon her Roman Catholic religious habits.... 

... [T[he contested measure had little influence on the applicant’s religious practices and was in any event aimed solely at resolving the conflict arising from the opposition between the two parents’ educational concepts, with a view to safeguarding the child’s best interests.

The Court also published a summary of its decision. Law & Religion UK has more on the decision.

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Italian Court Upholds Lease Of Historic Abbey to Conservative Catholic Group With American Ties

The Art Newspaper reports that in Italy in a decision published Monday, a 3-judge administrative court rejected an attempt by the Ministry of Culture to revoke a 19-year lease granted to a conservative Catholic organization, Dignitatis Humanae Institute (DHI), for an elaborate 13th century abbey. According to the report:
The lease was awarded as part of an initiative to involve the private sector in the management of abandoned cultural sites in Italy.
The judges concluded that the ministry had failed to act within the prescribed time limit for the annulment of public contracts. The verdict is an embarrassing defeat for the Italian ministry of culture which had argued that the time limit should not apply because the DHI made “false and mendacious” statements in its application for the lease, an allegation which the administrative judges say the ministry failed to provide evidence for.
DHI says that the case against it is politically motivated. DHI is funded by Donald Trump's controversial former chief strategist Steve Bannon. After the decision was released, Italy's Attorney General's Office said it would begin a criminal investigation of  DHI’s founder, Benjamin Harnwell. And the Ministry of Culture says it will appeal the administrative court's decision.

Thursday, April 04, 2019

Third Muslim Circumcision Death In Italy

AP reported yesterday on the third death in Italy since December of infant or toddler boys circumcised at home by Muslim families. Apparently Muslim immigrants sometimes have difficulty accessing circumcision services in hospitals either because of the cost or because some Italian doctors refuse to perform the procedure on boys under 4 years of age.

Friday, December 15, 2017

European Court Says Countries Must Recognize Same-Sex Unions Entered Abroad

In Orlandi and Others v. Italy, (ECHR, Dec. 14, 2017), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber Judgment, by a vote of 5-2, held that Italy violated the rights of same-sex couples by refusing to register their marriages.  The Court summarized the decision on its website as follows:
the Court has found a violation of the right to respect for private and family life. [Art. 8, European Convention on Human Rights.]  In this case 6 homosexual couples complained that they had been unable to have their marriages, which had been entered into abroad, registered or recognised in Italy.
The Court observed in particular that States were free only to authorise heterosexual couples to marry, but that homosexual couples needed to be legally recognised and to ensure the protection of their relationship. It also noted that the situation in Italy had changed in 2016 with the enactment of new legislation on homosexual civil partnerships.

Thursday, November 09, 2017

Italian Artist Charged With Criminal Blasphemy

The art blog Hyperallergic this week reports that in Italy, the anonymous artist known as Hogre was arrested and charged with publicly insulting religion in violation of Sec. 403 (Criminal Blasphemy) of Italy's Criminal Code.  According to the blog's report:
Hogre was one of two artists who, on June 1 of this year, placed satirical posters in bus stop advertising spaces in the Italian capital. Hogre’s poster “Ecce homo erectus” depicts Jesus with a conspicuous erection, resting one hand on the head of a praying, kneeling child. This was a response to sexual abuse charges against Cardinal Pell, the third highest-ranking Vatican official.
If convicted, the artist could face a fine of €1000 to €5000.  Hyperallergic's blog post includes a photo of the offending poster.

Friday, May 19, 2017

Italy's Top Court Upholds Kirpan Ban

Last Monday, Italy's Court of Cassation upheld a fine that had been imposed for carrying a kirpan in public.  According to The Local:
The Italian judges on Monday rejected the appeal of a Sikh who had been fined €2,000 in 2015 for carrying an 18cm-long kirpan in Goito, a town in Lombardy. He argued that the ban was unfair as the kirpan was a religious symbol rather than a weapon, but the court upheld the original sentence.
"Attachment to values which violate the laws of the host country is intolerable, even if they are lawful in the country of origin," the court said, adding that "public safety is an asset to be protected".

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Italian Court Overturns Convictions For Eid al-Adha Sacrifice

An Italian appeals court last week overturned the animal cruelty conviction of two Romanian travelers who had been fined by a lower court for the public slaughter of a young goat to mark the Muslim festival Eid  al-Adah (the Feast of the Sacrifice). The Local yesterday reported on the decision by the appellate court in Genoa:
In overturning the conviction, judge Mauro Amisano wrote that animal cruelty charges “presume the lack of any valid motive which renders the cruelty abject and futile.”
Amisano added that the sacrifice had a valid motive as it was part of a religious festival and had been carried out according to longstanding tradition.
“As part of a religious practice, one can assume the men did not expose the animal to any additional suffering,” he added.
“It cannot be considered illegal because it is a practice which is permitted by the freedom of religious expression.”

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Iran's Rouhani Visits Italy; Religious Protocol Among Economic Talks

As reported by Al Jazeera, on Monday Iran's President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Italy to begin a four-day European trip that will also take him to France. The trip focuses mainly on renewing economic ties. International Business Times reports that some Italians are angered at their government's handling of Rouhani's tour of a famous Rome museum:
Rouhani toured the Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museums) – which hosts a huge collection of artefacts from the ancient, medieval and renaissance periods – accompanied by Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on 25 January.
However, the Iranian leader could not admire some of the museum's masterpieces, as all marbles depicting naked scenes had been carefully hid behind large white panels.
The vast censorship effort was reportedly implemented as a show of respect to the reformist president, out of fears that the exposed private parts of ancient Roman gods could offend Iranian sensitivity. Wine was also banned from official receptions.
VIS reports that Rouhani also met in the Vatican with Pope Francis:
During the cordial discussions, common spiritual values emerged and reference was made to the good state of relations between the Holy See and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the life of the Church in the country and the action of the Holy See to favour the promotion of the dignity of the human person and religious freedom.

Monday, November 30, 2015

Italian School Head Provokes Controversy By Canceling Christmas Concert In Favor of Winter Musical In January

With Italy's population becoming more religiously diverse, it is now facing the kind of issues regarding Christmas celebration in public schools that have been common in the United States.  Under attack from Italy's Prime Minister, the headmaster of a 1,000 pupil school in the town of Rozzano near Milan has been forced to resign after he canceled the school's traditional Christmas concert in favor of a non-religious Winter Concert in January.  AFP, The Telegraph and Deutsche Welle all reported yesterday on aspects of the story.  Before resigning, Marco Parma, headmaster of the Garofani comprehensive school whose student body is 20% non-Christian, said:
Last year we had a Christmas concert and some parents insisted on having carols. The Muslim children didn't sing, they just stood there, absolutely rigid.  It is not nice watching a child not singing or, worse, being called down from the stage by their parents.
The school's teachers backed the headmaster, but Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was incensed, saying:
Discussion and dialogue does not mean to say we can drown our identity for the sake of a vague and insipid form of political correctness. Italians, both non-religious and Christians, will never give up Christmas.
The head of Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League went further, arguing that "canceling traditions is a favor for terrorists."

Tuesday, September 01, 2015

European Court Upholds Italy's Ban On Donation of IVF Embryos For Scientific Research

In Parrillo v. Italy, (ECHR, Aug. 27, 2015), the European Court of Human Rights in a Grand Chamber judgment held 16-1 that Italy did not violate the European Convention on Human Rights when it banned donating for scientific research unimplanted embryos created in carrying out in vitro fertilization. The Court's accompanying press release summarizes the majority opinion:
For the first time, the Court was called upon to rule on the question whether the “right to respect for private life” could encompass the right to make use of embryos obtained from IVF for the purposes of donating them to scientific research. The “family life” aspect of Article 8 was not in issue here, since Ms Parrillo had chosen not to go ahead with a pregnancy with the embryos in question.
The Court, noting that the embryos obtained through IVF contained the genetic material of the person in question and accordingly represented a constituent part of his or her identity, concluded that Ms Parrillo’s ability to exercise a choice regarding the fate of her embryos concerned an intimate aspect of her personal life and accordingly related to her right to self-determination. The Court also took into account the importance attached by the domestic legal system to the freedom of choice of parents regarding the fate of embryos not destined for implantation. It therefore concluded that Article 8 was applicable in this case.....
The Court concluded that Italy had not overstepped the wide margin of appreciation enjoyed by it in this case and that the ban in question had been “necessary in a democratic society”. In consequence, there had been no violation of Article 8.
Six separate partly or fully concurring and dissenting opinions were also filed. As reported by the Times of Malta, a partly dissenting opinion of 5 judges said in part:
 Unlike the majority, we do not consider that embryos can be reduced to constituent parts of anyone else’s identity—biological or otherwise. Whilst sharing the genetic make-up of its biological ‘parents’, an embryo is, at the same time, a separate and distinct entity albeit at the very earliest stages of human development.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

European Court Holds Italy Gives Inadequate Protection To Same-Sex Couples

In a Chamber judgment in Oliari and Others v. Italy, (ECHR, July 21, 2015), the European Court of Human Rights in a Chamber judgment awarded damages to three same-sex couples whose relationships were not adequately protected by Italian law.  While the award was unanimous, 3 concurring judges thought that the case could be decided on narrower grounds than did the 4-judge majority opinion.  The Court's press release describes the majority opinion in part as follows:
In previous cases, the Court had already found that the relationship of a cohabitating same-sex couple living in a stable de facto partnership fell within the notion of “family life” within the meaning of Article 8. It had also acknowledged that same-sex couples were in need of legal recognition and protection of their relationship....
The Court considered that the legal protection currently available in Italy to same-sex couples ... not only failed to provide for the core needs relevant to a couple in a stable committed relationship, but it was also not sufficiently reliable. Where registration of same-sex unions with the local authorities was possible – only in a small share of municipalities in Italy – this had merely symbolic value, as it did not confer any rights on same-sex couples. 
As regards the possibility, since December 2013, to enter into “cohabitation agreements”, such contracts were limited in scope. They failed to provide for some basic needs ... such as mutual material support, maintenance obligations and inheritance rights. The fact that cohabitation agreements were open to any set of people who were cohabiting, such as friends, flatmates or carers, showed that those agreements did not primarily aim to protect couples. Furthermore, such a contract required the couple concerned to be cohabiting, whereas the Court had already accepted that the existence of a stable union between partners was independent of cohabitation, given that many couples – whether married or in a registered partnership – experienced periods during which they conducted their relationship at long distance, for example for professional reasons.
Among the authorities cited by the majority was the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Obergefell decision. A Chamber judgment may be appealed to the Grand Chamber. Frontiers Media reporting on the decision points out that Italy is the only major Western European country that does not provide either civil partnerships or same-sex marriage.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

In Italy, Lawsuit Raises Challenge To Prayer In Schools

New York Times reported yesterday that the continuing controversy over church-state relations in Italy is reflected in a recent lawsuit challenging the decision of a school board in Bologna to allow priests to offer an Easter blessing at three elementary schools.  Previously, a local court had held that an Easter prayer in a classroom during school hours was unconstitutional.  But the current plan is for voluntary prayer on school grounds shortly after the closing bell.  An Italian constitutional law expert commented:
In Italy, it is different. We do not have religion in the state, but we have tradition and relationships that link the Italian Republic with the Catholic Church.
A hearing on the challenge is not scheduled until later this week, and the blessing has already been recited at two of the schools. Prayer scheduled at one school for next Saturday has been canceled.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Italian Court Orders Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage Performed In New York

In Italy for the first time last Thursday, a court ordered the recognition of a same-sex marriage.  UPI reports that a judge in Grosetto ordered the local registry to record the marriage of two men who were married in a civil ceremony in New York in 2012. The court said that the Italian civil code "contains no reference to sex in relation to the requisites" for marriage. The Italian Bishops' Conference issued a statement saying that the ruling raises serious questions.

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Anti-Semitic Packages and Graffiti In Italy Ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Times of Israel reports that in Italy this week, just ahead of International Holocaust Remembrance Day which falls on January 27 (background), boxes containing pigs' heads were sent to Rome's Great Synagogue, the Israeli embassy in Rome and Rome's Jewish Museum which is hosting an exhibit on the Holocaust. The package sent to the synagogue was delivered on Friday, while the one mailed to the Embassy was intercepted before it was delivered.  On Saturday, graffiti reading "the Holocaust is a lie" and "Hannah Frank is a big liar" appeared outside a municipal building in Rome.  According to Times of Israel, Rome's mayor condemned the actions, saying on Twitter: "Those who insult the Jewish community offend Rome..."

Sunday, December 15, 2013

New Anti-Semitic Manifestations Reported In Europe

New examples of anti-Semitism in Europe have made the news in recent days.  EJP reports on the growing criticism of an anti-Semitic Christmas carol broadcast on Dec. 6 by the state-operated Romanian channel TVR3 Verde, a channel directed to rural communities. According to the report:
In the carol, sung by a choir, the “jidovi”, a derogatory term for Jews, are reproached for having “mocked” the Christ Child. “Only in the chimney, in the smoke, the ‘jidov’ is good”, the lyrics further say.
The U.S. embassy in Bucharest issued a statement on Dec. 12 calling the broadcast "an unacceptable display of anti-Semitism." Romania's foreign minister, as well as the Israeli embassy in Bucharest have also condemned the broadcast.

In another move, reported on briefly in the English language press by AFP, but garnering more attention in the Romanian language press, Romania's Jewish community is angered by the ruling Social Democratic Party's nomination of Lucian Bolcas, former vice-president of the nationalistic, right-wing Greater Romania Party, to be a judge on Romania's Constitutional Court. The Centre for the Fight against Anti-Semitism calls Bolcas's ideas "racist and anti-Semitic."

Meanwhile, Haaretz and JTA report that in Italy a spokesman for the Forconi (Pitchfork) Movement which led widespread populist protests against Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s government, its austerity program and the European Union last week, made blatantly anti-Semitic statements in an interview Friday with the newspaper La Repubblica.  Andrea Zunino told the paper:
We want the government to resign.  We want the sovereignty of Italy, which today is slave to the bankers, like the Rothschilds. It is curious that five or six of the richest people in the world are Jews, but this is something I need to investigate.