(Berlin) A German court has ruled that the civil service and all government agencies must pay benefits to the partners of same-sex couples equal to those they pay to the married spouses of heterosexuals.
The decision by the federal labor court in effect expands the country's domestic partner laws without parliamentary approval.
In their ruling, the judges said that there is no difference between a registered life partnership and marriage when it came to remuneration in the public service, with the court accepting that a Eingetragenelebensgemeinschaft, the German term for a registered domestic partnership, also meant family status.
A leading member of the parliamentary Green Party, Volker Beck hailed the judgment as a "big break-through".
The judgment followed a case brought by a male nurse who claimed heterosexual married colleagues received higher benefits.
Like marriage, the court said, registered gay partnerships are a long-term relationship with their disillusionment requiring a judicial decision.
Introduced in August 2002, the registered partnership law was an attempt by Germany's Social Democrat-Green Party coalition government to bring gay relationships into line with straight couples, without granting the status of marriage.
It provides rights relating to hospital visits and taking over apartments in the event of the death of one partner.
Nevertheless there are still some areas where the law falls short..
Conservative lawmakers in parliament have consistently blocked attempts to expand the law, notably in taxation.
German Expands Gay Rights
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