TWO women in Besançon have set a French legal precedent after winning a 10-year battle to be allowed to adopt a child.

A tribunal has ruled that primary school teacher Emmanuelle B and her partner of 20 years, Laurence, should be free to adopt, although the government has said it is still against the idea.

The court overturned an earlier refusal in the couple’s home department, the Jura, which it said could not be legally justified.

It ordered that the local departmental council send out an official document within a fortnight giving the all-clear to adopt, or face a fine.

Mrs B, who is 48, had taken her fight to the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled in October last year that France was wrong to refuse homosexual adoption.

Her lawyer, Caroline Mécary, told reporters outside court that the latest ruling was “a great victory against homophobia”.

Education minister and government spokesman Luc Chatel said: “We have said on several occasions that we are not in favour of homosexual couples adopting children. A judicial ruling has been made and we will take this into account."