At the end of July, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled against Italy in the Oliari, et al. case because Italy does not legally recognise same-sex unions or same-sex marriage. According to the ECHR, Italy violated Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which protects the "Right to Respect for Private and Family Life".

This petition is addressed to the leaders of 24 European countries (most of them, in Eastern Europe) which still recognize marriage as between a man and a woman (see the list below), and which are party to the ECHR -- to reject this terrible ruling and refuse to make it part of their country's legal framework.

Why? Because this judgement is bad on many different levels. And, crucially, because an unjust ruling is not deserving of respect.

So, what makes this ruling so bad?

First, it's bad law! Theoretically, the Court's unanimous ruling in this case implies a "positive obligation" on Italy only, to provide for legally-recognised same-sex unions. But, in the same document, 3 of the 7 judges conclude, in Section 10, of their "Concurring Opinion", that:

"...we are not sure that such a limitation of a positive obligation under the Convention to local conditions is conceptually possible. Secondly, at some points our colleagues...[imply] a free-standing positive obligation incumbent on all the Contracting States to provide a legal framework for same-sex unions (see, for example, paragraph 165 of the judgment)."

Please take special note of what they are saying here. These judges are sounding alarm bells, not only because the ruling seems to employ faulty logic faulty, but also because it seems wide-open to interpretation. What they suggest in their "Concurring Opinion" is that this ruling could be used to force any "Contracting State" (that is, any country which is party to the Council of Europe...which means almost every country in Europe) to legally recognise same-sex unions!!

Second, it's bad law! It is the right and duty of every sovereign state to protect marriage as between one man and one woman. It is totally unacceptable that the ECHR would try to force Italy - or, any European country - to take a path that leads to the destruction of marriage, at the same time as practices such as surrogacy are legitimized.

And, third, it's bad law! This is a power-grab by the ECHR which seems to be pretending that the Court is something which it is not, and never can be: a federal court.

In rulings like Oliari, et al., this court does not respect the separation between the branches of government, but, rather, seems to believe that the parliaments of the member states are subservient to the ECHR...which is actually a false, backwards interpretation of the function of the judiciary in a healthy democracy.

But, then again, the ECHR is not a democratic institution.

The ECHR was set-up as an arm of the Council of Europe, in part, to protect genuine human rights against possible acts of retribution and anti-democratic state action following the Second World War.

But, these days, this unelected Court has "re-made" itself into a body which seeks to create (often through its self-referencing rulings), and then enforce, ultra-liberal legal positions of, and, for a small minority of elitist Europeans - often, but not always, from Western European nations.

By doing so, the ECHR is abusing the good intentions of the now-deceased leaders of many European countries, who joined the Council of Europe believing that it was a reliable safeguard for democracy.

This is a grave and ironic injustice.

For this reason, we are petitioning the leaders of the 24 European countries - which either do not recognize same-sex union, or hold that marriage can only be between a man and a woman - and calling on them to reject this terrible ruling, and never allow it to become part of their country's legal framework.

These leaders need your encouragement to withstand the pressure of the gay lobby, the mainstream media, and the apparatus of the Western European powers which seem to have turned their face against the natural family.

Thank you!

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

The 24 countries in the Council of Europe which either do not recognise same-sex union or same-sex marriage are: 1) Albania; 2) Armenia; 3) Azerbaijan; 4) Bosnia & Herzegovina; 5) Bulgaria; 6) Croatia; 7) Cyprus; 8) Georgia; 9) Greece; 10) Hungary; 11) Italy; 12) Latvia; 13) Lithuania; 14) Moldova; 15) Monaco; 16) Montenegro; 17) Poland; 18) Romania; 19) Russia; 20) Serbia; 21) Slovakia; 22) Turkey; 23) Ukraine; and, 24) San Marino

http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf

http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-156265#{"itemid":["001-156265"]}

http://eclj.org/pdf/Oliari-Orlandi-v-Italy-ECHR-ECLJ-WO-English.pdf