[JURIST] A French court on Tuesday ruled that a Franco-Moroccan couple could marry despite a circular [text, PDF, in French] that bans same-sex marriage. The circular explained that France’s bilateral agreement with 11 countries that do not recognize same-sex marriage prohibited French civil registrars from performing marriages between same-sex couples where one party was a national of one of those countries. The French court rejected [AFP report] the government’s appeal challenging an order [JURIST report] that found that the circular did not prevent France from recognizing the same-sex marriage.

In spite of France’s recent legalization of same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder], there are still a number of issues to be resolved regarding its implementation, particularly in the area of conflicts of law [JURIST op-ed]. French President Francois Hollande [official website, in French] gave final approval [JURIST report] in May to the legislation legalizing same-sex marriage and establishing the right of same-sex couples to adopt. Although France’s Union for a Popular Movement party challenged the law, France’s Constitutional Court [official website, in French] rejected the challenge [JURIST report] in May. France’s Parliament gave final approval of the legislation [JURIST report] in April.