By Jenilyn Brhel
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

BRUSSELS, Belgium – In a major step forward for the European Union, an advocate general of the European court of justice said that residency rights should be accorded to all same-sex couples regardless of whether the member country legally recognizes same-sex marriages.

In an opinion published on January 11^th, Melchior Wathelet, a European court of justice advocate general in Luxembourg, issued an opinion stating that gay spouses had residency rights even in member countries where gay marriage is not authorized.

“Although member states are free to authorize marriage between persons of the same sex or not, they may not impede the freedom of residence of an EU citizen by refusing to grant his or her spouse of the same sex, a national of a non-EU country, a right of permanent residence in their territory,” Wathelet said.

The European court of justice is the highest court in Europe. The court of justice still needs to rule on the case. Opinions given by advocate generals are non-binding, but they are usually followed by the court in full.

The opinion arose out of a case in Romania surrounding Arian Coman, a Romanian national, and his husband, Claibourn Robert Hamilton. The couple married in Brussels in 2010. A few years later they wanted to move to Romania from their residence in New York, but Hamilton was denied the right to residence there because he could not be classified as the spouse of Coman in the country. Romania does not recognize same-sex marriages.

In his opinion, Wathelet stated that the European Union was neutral on the gender of a spouse. Current law permits non-European Union spouses to move to the member nation of his or her spouse.

Coman and Hamilton are thrilled with the verdict. “Romanian citizens can’t be divided into good and gay. We can’t be treated as inferior citizens, lacking equal rights, based on prejudices that some have about homosexuality,” Coman said in a written statement.

Currently, 22 of the 28 member nations of the European Union either legally recognize same-sex marriages or have some protections in place.

“In view of the general evolution of the societies of the member states of the EU in the last decade in the area of authorization of same-sex marriage” recognition of marriage as “a union between two persons of the opposite sex” is no longer an appropriate categorization.

Legislation which would legally recognize same-sex marriages remains to be enacted in Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – EU top Court Told Same-Sex Spouses Have Residence Rights – 11 January 2018

The Guardian – Gay Spouses Have Rights in all EU Countries, Says European Court Official – 11 January 2018

The New York Times – Same-Sex Spouses Should Have E.U. Residency Rights, Court is Told – 11 January 2018

Reuters – EU Court Adviser Backs EU-Wide Recognition of Same-Sex Spouses – 11 January 2018

U.S. News and World Report – Gay Couples Merit EU Residency Rights, Court Adviser Says – 11 January 2018

By Jenilyn Brhel
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

REYKJAVIK, Iceland – Iceland has enacted a new law that requires all companies and government agencies to pay men and women equally.

The legislation was announced by Iceland’s parliament, which is approximately 50 percent female, on International Women’s Day.

The new law, known as the Equal Pay Standard, requires that all companies with more than 25 employees obtain an official certification showing they provide equal pay for work of equal value. The law is not voluntary, as opposed to many existing equal pay laws currently in existence throughout the world.

In order to remain compliant, companies must analyze their salary structures every three years. The analysis must then be provided to the government for recertification. Companies not in compliance will face penalties including fines.

Iceland has been at the forefront of the push for wage equality. However, despite strides that have been made in recent years, gender pay gap problems have not been eliminated.

Demonstrations occurred in October 2016 to protest the wage gap. In one instance, thousands of women coordinated a walk-out from their jobs at a coordinated time of 2:38 pm. Women’s rights groups calculated this to be the time when women stopped being paid for equal work and began working for free.

Ms. Valdimarsdottir, one of the organizers of the walk-out, said “We have come a long way and we are in the forefront of gender equality in the world. But we are so far from having equality in Iceland.”

Iceland has maintained the best overall score on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report for the past nine years. This report measures wage differences between men and women in areas such as health, economics, politics and education in 144 countries. Iceland ranks 5^th in the report for wage equality.

The law is largely supported by the general population in Iceland, with just 21 percent in opposition.

While critics say that the cost of audits will be expensive, many proponents believe that the law will be of greater benefit to society as a whole.  “This is a cost that… we decided that… would be of benefit to society and that was of more benefit than… saving companies money” said Brynhildur Heidar- OG Omarsdottir, managing director of the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association.

Iceland has vowed to eradicate the gender pay gap entirely by 2022.

For more information, please see:

CBS News – Women of Iceland are now Required to Earn Equal pay to men – 3 January 2018

The New York Times – Iceland Makes Companies Prove That They are not Paying Women Less – 3 January 2018

NPR – New Law in Iceland Aims at Reducing Country’s Gender pay gap – 5 January 2018