In Italy, the Constitutional court has ruled against the legislation that automatically gives children of married couples the father's surname. The constitutional court said in a statement that it has declared the unlawfulness of rules providing for the automatic attribution of the paternal surname to legitimate children, when the parents wish otherwise. <br/><br/>Italy's Lower House has approved a bill aimed at changing the law, but it has been blocked in the Senate for years. Campaigners hailed the ruling and called for Parliament to endorse it. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had earlier condemned the legislation, which dates from Roman times, and had ordered Italy to change it.