Poland will recognize same-sex marriages concluded in other countries

Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court has ruled that authorities must recognize same-sex marriages lawfully entered into in other European Union countries. 

The ruling stems from a case involving a gay couple who married in Berlin in 2018. Upon returning to Poland, they were refused registration of their marriage in the civil registry, with authorities citing the constitutional provision defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The court has now ordered that their marriage be registered within 30 days.

The court stated that the recognition of a same-sex marriage does not undermine the foundations of the Polish legal order, nor does it prevent Poland from maintaining its own definition of marriage within its domestic legislation. The presiding judge specifically emphasized that the constitutional provision cannot be deemed an absolute impediment to recognizing a same-sex marriage entered into in another EU country.

Previously, a European court had indicated that EU member states are obligated to recognize same-sex marriages entered into in another state within the Union. In the case of *Formela and Others v. Poland*, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that Poland’s refusal to register same-sex marriages entered into abroad left the applicants in a legal vacuum and violated their right to respect for their private and family life. The Court emphasized that the state is duty-bound to ensure that such couples receive legal recognition and protection for their relationships.

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