Children in Italy will not be given their father's surname directly
1Children in Italy will not be given their father's surname directly
In Italy, the practice of children taking their father's surname directly has been discontinued. The Constitutional Court found the practice illegitimate. The family will decide the surname of the child.
In Italy, the Constitutional Court (AYM) stopped the regulation for children to automatically take their father's surname.
In the statement made by the Constitutional Court today, it was stated that the high court found all legal regulations regarding children to take their father's surname directly as illegitimate.
In the statement, it was noted that the regulation was stopped.
In the decision of the Constitutional Court, it was stated that the rule of giving the father's surname directly to children is "discriminatory and damaging to the identity of the child".
The supreme court ruled that children should be given both the mother's and father's surnames, and that the surnames of both parents should be given to the child in the order the parents agreed. It was reported that if the families could not agree on the order of surnames, a judge would make the decision.
The AYM stated that parents can also agree that their children bear only one surname.
QUALIFIED AS DECISION DATE
The decision, described as "historic" in the Italian press, was taken at the end of the judicial process initiated by a couple in the Basilicata region in the south of the country.
The couple in question initiated a judicial process in order to avoid the problem of different surnames between the siblings, since their children born before marriage bear the mother's surname and their third children automatically take the surname of the father after marriage.
The couple, who wanted their third child to bear the mother's surname in the same way as the first two siblings, brought the process back from the lower courts to the Constitutional Court. The supreme court ruled in favor of the couple today.
The couple's lawyer, Domenico Pittella, told the ANSA agency, "We are very pleased with this decision. We have just talked to the couple who went through this complex and tiring judicial process. They were touched, they are aware that they are writing a historical page. They have always believed this." said.
Equal Opportunities Minister Elena Bonetti also shared on her Facebook account that the decision of the Constitutional Court reminded them that it is time to make legal arrangements on this issue.
Bonetti noted that the issue of legal regulation regarding the reference to equal responsibility in choosing the surname is the urgent task of politics.
The Italian press wrote that "another taboo has been broken in the country" with this decision of the Constitutional Court.