(ANSA) - Rome, October 27 - Conservatives rejoiced Tuesday after Italy's highest administrative court, the Council of State, annulled a lower-court ruling that had OK'd the registration of gay unions contracted abroad.

Liberals, on the other hand, were disappointed by the ruling.

The judge who handed down the ruling, denying bias claims on the grounds he is a practising Catholic, said he had only applied the law. Interior Minister Angelino Alfano, leader of the centre-right government partner the New Centre Right (NCD), said the verdict vindicated his stance against a gay-union registry and, by implication, the NCD's resistance to a bill legalising civil unions if it allows stepchild adoption.

"Last year my circular banning the transcription of gay marriages contracted abroad drew controversy, sometimes even violent aggression and a hail of appeals. Now the Council of State has borne me out entirely: marriage between two people of the same sex is not contemplated under Italian law, therefore the transcriptions made by local mayors are illegal and monitoring is the competence of the prefect. Very good," Alfano said.

The ruling, which overturned an earlier verdict by the Lazio regional administrative tribunal (TAR) that transcriptions in civil registers of gay marriages contracted abroad could only be annulled by court order, was a blow to gay rights campaigners tired of waiting for lawmakers to give same-sex couples some form of legal recognition in Italy. Senator and foreign ministry undersecretary Benedetto Della Vedova described the ruling as "a victory for none and a defeat for all".

"It is the defeat of a country that remains at the starting post as regards gay rights, which urgently need to be regulated," he said.

Parliament is currently considering a bill introducing civil unions for same-sex couples, which has already met with strong opposition.

Last year Rome Mayor Ignazio Marino walked into administrative no-man's-land when he transcribed the marriage of 16 same-sex couples contracted abroad into the city registry. Alfano subsequently ordered the prefect to annul the transcriptions and cancel them from the registry but Marino stuck by his guns, lodging an administrative appeal.

He had the support of other city mayors around the country who had made similar transcriptions.

The rapporteur of a bill on civil unions said she respected the Council of State's ruling but her determination to get her bill passed was undeterred.

"Sentences are not to be commented on, given the separation of powers," said Monica Cirinnà of the ruling Democratic Party (PD).

But she vowed that Italy would have a law on civil unions "soon".

Cirinnà's bill has been held up by resistance from the NCD, primarily on stepchild adoption.

In all, the Council of State ruled against four separate findings by subordinate courts, the regional administrative tribunals (TAR).

The Council of State justice who ruled against transcribing gay marriages contracted abroad should have abstained because he is a conservative Catholic, gay groups and lawyers for the issue said.

"You just have to look at his Twitter profile to realise the conservative positions of judge (Carlo) Deodato", said Maria Grazia Sangalli of the Rete Lenford lobby, whose lawyers promoted the cause.

The head of Arcigay, Flavio Romani, said the "Pilate-like" verdict had a "backward feel about it".

Deodato said he had just applied the law.

"I only applied the law in a non-ideological and rigorous way, leaving out my personal convictions which had no influence," said Carlo Deodato, self-described on his Twitter profile as "a Catholic jurist".

In his ruling, Deodato said a marriage was "non-existent unless it is between a man and a woman".

