[JURIST] Spain’s Constitutional Court [official website] on Tuesday, denied an appeal [press release, PDF, in Spanish] by the Popular Party [party website, in Spanish] challenging the constitutionality of Spain’s law that permits same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder]. The decision was reached by an 8-3 vote, and the detailed legal reasoning is expected to be released later this week. The Popular Party filed the appeal [JURIST report] claiming that Spain’s constitution permitted only marriages between a woman and a man. Spain passed [JURIST report] the law in 2005, legalizing same-sex marriage and permitting those couples to adopt children. Spain was the third such country to pass such legislation.

Laws regarding same-sex marriage have been enacted or presented with legal challenges in many states and countries. Earlier this week Malawi enacted a moratorium [JURIST report] on laws preventing same-sex marriage and homosexuality. In August a gay rights group urged [JURIST report] the US Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday to review a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) [text; JURIST news archive] that denies benefits to married same-sex couples. In July a New York state appeals court dismissed a challenge [JURIST report] to the state’s year-old Marriage Equality Act (MEA) [text, PDF]