It was not clear whether the federal government in Canada would appeal today’s decision or ask for a stay, Reuters reported.
A decision last month by a British Columbia appeals court had given the federal government until July 2004 to change its law to include homosexual marriages, and Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said he was considering an appeal.
But the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that to wait would deny the couples their constitutional rights.
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, an interfaith group, expressed disappointment with the decision in the case of Halpern v. Canada.
«Nowhere else in the world has a court ruled the heterosexual definition of marriage violates human rights,» EFC president Bruce Clemenger said. «It is not an appropriate use of the Charter to redefine pre-existing social, cultural and religious institutions.»
«Other courts,» he added, «have ruled that redefining marriage is too big a step to be made by the courts and should properly be made by Parliament.»
