the Supreme Court rejects the recognition of marriage for all, ruling that it is an “aspiration” and not a “human right”

The Supreme Court of Panama has rejected the recognition of marriage for same-sex couples, in a decision made public on Wednesday March 1. “The right to equal marriage is nothing more than an aspiration which, although legitimate for the groups concerned, does not fall into the category of a human right or a fundamental right”estimated the highest court of the country, in this decision taken on February 16.

The Panamanian Supreme Court had been seized since 2016 of several appeals against the Family Code, which only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman. The couples at the origin of these procedures invoked the unconstitutionality of these provisions to request the recognition of their marriage, celebrated in other countries.

However, “despite changes that may occur in reality”gay marriage “does not enjoy conventional and constitutional recognition” in Panama, according to the judgment approved by six of the nine magistrates of the Court. The norms imposed by the Family Code reserving marriage to the union of a man and a woman “are objective and rationally justified by the general interest to give preference to those unions which can found families, preserve the human species and consequently society”justifies the institution.