in Italy. This came nearly a year after the European Court of Human Rights found Italy to be in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights. The Italian law on Civil Unions (Legge 20 maggio 2016 N. 76) delivers all of the rights of marriage to same sex partners, except for joint adoption and stepchild adoption. Latvia In December 2005, the Latvian Parliament passed a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. President Vaira Vike-Freiberga signed the amendment shortly afterward. Malta On 14 April 2014, the Maltese parliament voted in favour of civil unions at par with marriage (equal to marriage in all but the name) with all rights and obligations, including the right to adoption and recognition of same-sex marriage contracted abroad. The first foreign same-sex marriage was registered on 29 April 2014 and the first civil unions began on 14 June 2014. On 12 July 2017, Malta legalized same-sex marriage with a near unanimous parliamentary vote. Netherlands The Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriages on 1 April 2001. The possibility exists in its European territory as well as in the special municipalities of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (known as the Caribbean Netherlands) while those marriages can be registered in the constituent countries of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Norway Same-sex marriage is legally performed in Norway. The Norwegian government proposed a gender-neutral marriage law on 14 March 2008, that would give same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexuals, including church weddings, adoption and assisted pregnancies. On 29 May 2008, the Associated Press reported that two Norwegian Opposition parties came out in favor of the new bill, assuring the bill's passage when the vote was held on 11 June. Prior to this, there were some disagreements with members of the three-party governing coalition on whether the bill had enough votes to pass. With this, it became almost certain that the bill would pass. The first hearings and the vote were held, and passed, on 11 June 2008. 84 votes for and 41 against. This also specified that when a woman who is married to another woman becomes pregnant through artificial insemination, the partner would have all the rights of parenthood "from the moment of conception". The law became effective from 1 January 2009. Norway was also the second country to legalize registered partnerships, doing so