Argentina’s highest court has declared unconstitutional a law that allowed couples to separate legally but not to obtain a divorce.
In a 3-to-2 ruling, the Argentina Supreme Court struck down a provision in the country’s marriage laws that barred Argentines from remarrying while their original spouses were alive. The court said the law violated the constitution’s equal-rights provisions by relegating people who are separated from their original spouse to the second-class status of “concubinage.” Divorce had been banned in Argentina since colonial times, except for a brief period in 1955 when it was legalized under former President Juan Peron.
In a dissenting opinion, two Supreme Court justices said any action to be taken on the divorce law belonged in the country’s legislature, not in the courts. In August, Argentina’s House of Deputies passed a bill that would legalize divorce. The measure is pending before the nation’s Senate.
Argentina’s Roman Catholic hierarchy voiced opposition to the court ruling and the divorce legislation. Prior to the House of Deputies vote, the church hierarchy organized profamily rallies around the country. After the vote, the Permanent Commission of the Episcopate suggested priests refuse Communion to deputies who voted for the measure.
Although 90 percent of the country’s population is Catholic, recent opinion polls indicate that 70 percent of Argentines favor legalized divorce.
