[JURIST] France’s highest court [official website, in French] ruled Wednesday that a same-sex French-Moroccan couple may legally marry [press release, in French]. Although Morocco refuses to recognize marriage between two men, France legalized same-sex marriage in 2013. The case was originally brought [AP report] after a French city hall refused to marry the couple, arguing that the union was blocked by a 1981 agreement between France and Morocco that marriages between citizens of the two countries are subject to the laws of their own countries. After an appeals court allowed the couple to marry the attorney general appealed, again citing the violation of the 1981 agreement. The high court dismissed the case, citing article four of the agreement, which provides that the law of one country may be excluded when it is manifestly incompatible with the public order.

Same-sex marriage continues to be hotly debated issue, both in the US and abroad. Earlier this month the US Supreme Court agreed [JURIST report] to rule on same-sex marriage, granting certiorari in four separate cases. 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].