[JURIST] Mexico’s Supreme Court [official website, in Spanish] has declared it unconstitutional for Mexican states to ban same-sex marriages. The court’s June 3 ruling, made public this week, is considered a “jurisprudential thesis” [AP report] and does not invalidate any state laws making it necessary for same-sex couples to seek individual redress from the courts. However, based on this ruling, all judges and courts would have to approve same-sex marriages [El Universal report, in Spanish] in the country. Same-sex marriage is legal in some parts of Mexico including Mexico City and the northern state of Coahuila.

Same-sex couples have varied marriage rights throughout the world. In May Ireland became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage [JURIST report] by national referendum. In January the US Supreme Court agreed [JURIST report] to rule on same-sex marriage, granting certiorari in four separate cases, and heard arguments [JURIST report] in late April. A decision is expected by the end of June. In August Ugandan Attorney General Peter Nyomb filed [JURIST report] an appeal against the constitutional court ruling that struck down the nation’s anti-homosexuality law. Last January the Nigerian president signed [JURIST report] the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act into law, banning same-sex marriage and criminalizing same-sex relationships. Similar laws exist in Singapore and Jamaica [JURIST reports].