Maternal surname to children? A right

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg was clear: a couple has the right to give their children only the maternal surname. This was established by today's sentence, which condemns Italy for having rejected the request of a couple who wanted to give the maternal surname to their daughter.

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For the Court, the Italian law that imposes only the paternal surname on children is a violation of human rights, and this sentence, which will become final in three months, is a specific request to intervene with a national law that remedies the violation.

Tags:  Marriage Parenthood Women-Of-Today