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CCR: the family founded by marriage between a man and a woman is constitutional
The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) found on Wednesday that the civic legislative proposal to revise the Constitution so as to specifically state that the family is founded by marriage between a man and a woman meets the requirements for the initiative to follow its course.
The CCR panel unanimously passed the decision.
Court president Valer Dorneanu said the CCR did not pronounce on the timeliness of this amendment to the Constitution.
"It's not the responsibility of the Constitutional Court to determine whether to allow marriage between spouses as stated in the Constitution, not even to redefine the notion of family, or define the other notions some are waiting for in connection with civil partnerships. CCR was strictly called to rule on the constitutionality of the revision proposal, and from this point of view we had to check the requirements set forth in Articles 150 and 152 of the Constitution," Dorneanu said after the CCR sitting.
He underscored that this initiative does not suppress citizens' rights.
"The right to marriage is currently not enshrined in the Constitution as a fundamental right. Relevant European legislation recommends a lax approach by the states, gives them a margin of sovereignty to pronounce whether they admit or not same-sex marriage. The concept of family life is not violated either, because it is much broader than the scope of marriage, it includes relationships with children, relatives, it defines their obligations and kinship relations. The court does not uphold a breach of this right from this point of view either. For all these reasons we found that since the constitutionality requirements laid down in Articles 150 and 152 are met, the proposal may further follow the standard course," Dorneanu said, adding that other Constitution revisal proposals will have to follow the same track.
The Senate last month submitted to CCR a legislative proposal to check the observance of constitutional provisions for the revision of the Constitution.
On May 23, the Family Coalition tabled with the Senate a legislative proposal for the revision of the Constitution to spell out that family is based on marriage between a man and a woman, an initiative that was signed by 3 million citizens. After being registered with the Senate, it was introduced to the Standing Bureau on June 7 and forwarded to CCR to be checked for constitutional compliance.
The Family Coalition argues that their legislative proposal to amend the Constitution would explicitly protect families and parents' rights
The suggested wording for Article 48 (1) in the Constitution is: ''The family is founded on the freely consented marriage between a man and a woman, their full equality, as well as the right and duty of the parents to ensure the upbringing, education and instruction of their children.'' In its current wording, the article mentions freely consented marriage of the spouses.
The initiators suggest that the national constitutional revision referendum be held at the same time with this year's general election.