The judiciary in Catholic-leaning Poland has delivered a landmark ruling on same-sex marriages. According to the Supreme Administrative Court in Warsaw, a marriage between gay men or women must be recognized in Poland if it was concluded in another EU member state. The foundational ruling issued on Friday follows a decision from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in November (TheColu.mn reported). In the run-up, it had been unclear how closely Poland would adhere to the directive.
In the concrete case, two men who had married in Berlin in 2018 were involved. When they returned to Poland, the authorities refused to recognize their marriage, citing the Polish constitution.
The Polish constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. However, it does not prohibit recognizing marriages performed in other EU states, the judge Leszek Kirnaszek stated. The EU provisions guarantee the right to freedom of movement and prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender and sexual orientation, he explained.
Applause in the courtroom
The ECJ had ruled in November that a same-sex marriage formed in one of the 27 EU member states must be recognized in every other member state. In the past, Poland had repeatedly clashed with Brussels on LGBTQ+ issues.
The decision of the Supreme Administrative Court was greeted with applause by those in attendance in the courtroom. Activists and several LGBTQ+ couples had gathered there. “Today we celebrate a day of human rights, an incredible, very necessary decision,” said Pawel Knut, one of the couple’s lawyers.
In Poland there aren’t even registered partnerships
According to the lawyers, it remains unclear whether the court’s decision applies to all same-sex marriages formed abroad or only to those in which the spouses lived for an extended period in another EU state.
Non-governmental organizations estimate that as many as 40,000 Polish citizens have entered into same-sex marriages abroad. Poland is one of the last countries in Europe where there are still no same-sex marriages or registered partnerships. The situation is similar in Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia.
