Family and its evolutions

In recent decades, the family has been the subject of many evolutions, with the consequence that the scope covered by the relevant laws in our legal frameworks is no longer restricted to married couples, extending only to regulate divorce and the welfare of the children of the marriage, but is now also concerned with social politics, economics and so on. This judicial decision is primarily the result of the interpretations made by those who apply the law on a daily basis; interpretations that are inevitably underpinned by those people’s own systems of values and beliefs. An element of novelty has been introduced into in the evolution of the concept of family, which everyday language now often applies not only to married couples, but also unmarried ones (whether heterosexual or homosexual). In many countries, this tendency has been recognised by and consequently reflected in national laws. Unfortunately, this is not the case of Italy, where the national jurisprudence has had to fill in blank areas left by the compete neglect of the Italian government and provide some sort of legal recognition, albeit limited in scope, to those couples who choose not to base their union on marriage. In this respect, some interesting "pilot cases" that may ultimately lead to an official recognition of gay marriage also soon to come before the courts in Italy.

Michele Bellomo, La famiglia e le sue evoluzioni in "SOCIOLOGIA DEL DIRITTO " 3/2009, pp 171-192, DOI: 10.3280/SD2009-003009