18766/11 and 36030/11) is a case decided in 2015 by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in which the Court established a positive obligation upon member states to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples.
The ECtHR previously held in Schalk and Kopf v. Austria (2010) that the Convention does not oblige member states to open marriage to same-sex couples, but if there is a different type of partnership scheme, same-sex couples may not be excluded per Vallianatos and Others v. Greece (2013).
The applicants were three same-sex couples who submitted their cases in 2011 after Italian courts rejected their requests to have their marriage recognized.
In the review of relevant law, the Court also referenced Obergefell v. Hodges, a United States Supreme Court ruling legalising same-sex marriage,[3] which was published just a few days before the ECtHR deliberated in Oliari and Others v. Italy.
However, the ECtHR found that, despite the evolution of states in favour of legalising same-sex marriage, there was no violation of Article 12 (right to marry),[2] and thus confirmed its previous ruling in Schalk and Kopf v. Austria (2010).