Baby name rules sexist?

If the parents can’t agree then the child is given the father's surname. Virginie Voronine that has filed the complaint with the constitutional court says that this constitutes discrimination.

Friday’s edition of the daily ‘De Morgen’ reports that Ms Voronine is currently in dispute with her ex-husband, who has refused to allow their new-born baby daughter to be given a double-barrelled surname.

In order to prevent her daughter being given her ex-husband’s surname, she has filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court alleging that the rules on surnames for new-borns contravene the principle of equality between the sexes.

She hopes that the law will be modified so that a double surname becomes the default if parents can’t agree on which of their surnames their child is to be given.

Ms Voronine’s complaint is interesting, as the default to the father’s surname was not in the original draft of the bill and was only introduced as an amendment to ensure the bill was passed.

A double-barrelled surname was the default in the original draft of the bill. However, this was changed after much debate in the Federal Parliament.