Same-sex couple petitions Israel high court to recognize Canadian gay marriage News
Same-sex couple petitions Israel high court to recognize Canadian gay marriage

[JURIST] A same-sex couple on Tuesday petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice [Wikipedia backgrounder] to force the country's Population Registry to recognize their same-sex marriage [JURIST news archive], performed legally in Toronto, Canada in July 2005. Jonathan Herland, a 29-year-old Canadian immigrant to Israel, and Ayal Walerauch, 26, accuse the Registry of “unlawful discrimination” for refusing to register them as married. The Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) [official website] submitted the petition, arguing that precedent demands the Registry recognize the marriage if it has been legally recognized abroad regardless of religious considerations. The High Court will hear the petition in two weeks. The petition follows the similar petitions of two other gay Israeli couples [ACRI press release] in March. Haaretz has local coverage.

THIS DAY @ LAW

South Africa becomes first country on continent to legalize same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006 as the country's Civil Union Act, 2006 went into effect, making South Africa the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. Read the Civil Union Act, 2006.