A Rome court has upheld an appeal against part of Italy's controversial law on assisted fertility treatment.
The Lazio regional administrative court, or TAR, said that a ban on the screening of embryos to be implanted in a woman's uterus went beyond the rightful powers of the legislator.
The court's decision was announced by Gianni Baldini, a lawyer working for a group of associations which have campaigned against the assisted fertility laws, among the most restrictive in the world.
As well as upholding the legal appeal, the TAR also asked the nation's Constitutional Court to issue a ruling on whether the legislation was acceptable under the Italian constitution.
The ban on the screening of embryos is one of several controversial points in the law, which was pushed through parliament in 2003 by an alliance of Catholic-oriented MPs on the left and right.
It is unclear what effect the TAR ruling will have on the application of the law in future cases.
