LE RELAZIONI DI COPPIA NEL DIRITTO ITALIANO: UN CINQUANTENNIO (E OLTRE) DI TRASFORMAZIONI

This essay traces the evolution of Italian couple-relationship law over the fifty years since the 1975 reform, from the hierarchical marriage model to today's pluralism (marriage, civil union, cohabitation). It examines the growing role of private autonomy — both in formal patrimonial choices and informal personal ones, now relevant to the equalizing-compensatory divorce allowance — and the still-unresolved question of premarital agreements' validity. It concludes by addressing the persistent gender asymmetry despite formal equality, tracing the historical legal legitimation of violence within marriage and the more recent, though still incomplete, recognition of gender-based violence as a systematic legal issue.