Irish court upholds ban on same-sex marriage

The High Court in Northern Ireland has dismissed two cases challenging a law banning same-sex marriage in the region.

The court ruled on Thursday that Northern Ireland's law banning gay marriage does not violate the rights of same-sex couples. The region is the only jurisdiction in the U.K. that still upholds its ban on same-sex marriage, even though it was the first part of the country to pass a law legalizing civil partnerships in 2004.

The first case challenging the ban was filed by two men who married in London in 2014 and were attempting to have their union recognized in Northern Ireland. According to The Guardian, their marriage was changed to a civil partnership in law after they moved to the region.

In the second case, two couples in civil partnerships — Grainne Close and Shannon Sickles, and Chris and Henry Flanagan-Kane — argued that the law violated their human rights.

Justice O'Hara, who heard the cases together due to the similarities of the legal arguments, dismissed both lawsuits on Thursday, arguing that the ban does not contravene human rights "because that right does not exist."

"It is not difficult to understand how gay men and lesbians, who have suffered discrimination, rejection and exclusion, feel so strongly about the maintenance in Northern Ireland of the barrier to same-sex marriage," the judge stated. "However, the judgment which I have to reach is not based on social policy but on law," he continued.

The lawyers in the case argued that the ban violated Article Eight of the European on Human Rights, by denying respect for the plaintiffs' private and family lives. However, O'Hara maintained that the right to same-sex marriage has never been recognized by the European Court of Human Rights.

The judge further stated that it was up to the Stormont assembly to decide social policy in Northern Ireland.

"It's not the role of a judge to decide social policy, that is for the Executive and the Assembly under our constitution," he said referring to Northern Ireland's government structures.

Traditionally Catholic parties like the Sinn Fein, and the moderate SDLP, support ending the ban on same-sex marriage. However, two parties representing the Protestant majority, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), have both supported the traditional definition of marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman.

In Europe, same-sex marriage has already been legalized in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, with the exception of Northern Ireland.