Marriage equality by resolution of the Judicial Council
Brazil opens marriage by judicial resolution: notaries may no longer turn away same-sex couples.
On 14 May 2013, a decision is made in Brasília that changes an entire country without any parliament voting on it. The National Council of Justice (CNJ), the supervisory body of the Brazilian judiciary, passes a resolution by 14 votes to 1: notary offices may no longer refuse to marry same-sex couples. Existing civil unions must be converted into marriages on request.
The motion is tabled by Joaquim Barbosa, who is president of both the CNJ and the Supreme Federal Court. The council, he argues, is merely removing obstacles that are holding up a binding ruling. This refers to the Supreme Court's 2011 decision that put same-sex couples in stable unions on an equal footing with heterosexual couples. Many notaries nevertheless refused, while judges in individual states were already going their own way. Only the representative of the labour court voted against. She simply saw no legal basis.
The resolution takes effect on 16 May. Couples across the country can now marry, even though there is no corresponding law from Congress. Conservative and evangelical members of parliament had been blocking such bills for years. The protection therefore rests on case law and an administrative resolution that could still be challenged before the Supreme Court. Nevertheless, Brazil has since been counted among the countries with marriage equality, after Argentina and Uruguay. The Brazilian Association of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans People spoke of an important step towards equality.
For many couples, a legal dispute thus became an appointment at the notary's. The year before, around 1,300 couples had registered their union, and that was only the beginning.