JOSLIN VS.

NEW ZEALAND
Communication No. 902/1999, U.N. Doc. A/57/40 at 214
2002

FACTS: Ms. Joslin and Ms. Rowan commenced a lesbian relationship in January 1988.
They have jointly assumed responsibility for their children out of previous marriages as
well as pooled their finances. The couple applied for a marriage license pursuant to
Marriage Act of 1955. The Deputy Registrar-General however rejected their application.
Similarly, another couple, Ms. Zelf and Ms. Pearl commenced a lesbian relationship.
They shared responsibility for their children from their previous marriage, pooled their
financial resources and maintained sexual relations. The local Registry Office refused to
accept their notice of intended marriage. The Registrar-General indicated that the
Registrar was acting lawfully in interpreting the Marriage Act as confined to a marriage
between a man and a woman. The two couples then appealed to the High Court but
their application was still declined holding that the Marriage Act was clear in applying to
marriage between a man and a woman only. The couples claim that the failure of the
Marriage Act to provide for homosexual marriage discriminates against them directly on
the basis of sex and indirectly on the basis of sexual orientation. They also claimed that
the same is a violation of certain provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights.

ISSUE: Whether or not the refusal to provide for homosexual marriage is a violation of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights?

RULING: NO. The United Nations Human Rights Committee interpreted the terms of the
Covenant as confined to a right of opposite-sex couples to marry as it used the terms,
“men and women” rather than general terms. The Committee cannot find that by mere
refusal to provide for marriage between homosexual couples, the State has violated the
rights of the subject individuals under Articles 16, 17, 23, paragraphs 1 and 2, or 26 of
the Covenant. As such, the refusal to provide for same-sex marriage does not breach
the right to equality and non-discrimination.