Declaring Same-Sex Marriage a constitutional right in South Africa

Minister of Home Affairs v. Fourie

Produced by: Constitutional Court of South Africa
Provided by: Findlaw

Minister of Home Affairs v. Fourie is a case decided by the Constitutional Court of South Africa declaring a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. This made South Africa only the fifth nation in the world to recognize such a right, after The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Canada. Fourie was decided on December 1, 2005, in a holding authored by Justice Albie Sachs. It was unanimous among the eleven justices of the Court, except as to the remedy, in which the majority held that the legislature had one year to rewrite statute in conformity with its decision, otherwise the holding would displace the statute