Italy’s top court gives mothers equal name rights

Italy’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled as unlawful the exercise of routinely giving children their father’s surname, in a judgment hailed as a step forward for women’s rights.

The supreme court in the country stated existing norms are illegal, “discriminatory and detrimental to the identity of the child”, and notified parliament to change the law.

The court emphasized that both parents should be equally responsible for choosing their child’s surname, which “constitutes a fundamental element of personal identity”.

From now on, “the child takes the surname of both parents in the order agreed by them, unless they decide jointly to attribute only the surname of one of the two”, it said in a press statement.

In case of disagreement, a judge will decide.

“Italian women have won a historic right,” leading daily La Repubblica said.

Among those hailing the ruling were Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, who gave her last name to her three children only after a tortuous process.

“To be able to pass on one’s surname… is an act of civilization,” she told Il Messaggero newspaper.