Top Polish court orders recognition of EU same-sex marriage documents

The judges ruled in favor of couples whose unions were registered abroad despite conservative opposition

Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court has ordered local authorities to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other EU member states, following a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last year.

Same-sex marriages still cannot be legally concluded in the predominantly Catholic country because Article 18 of the Polish Constitution defines marriage as a “union of a man and a woman.”

On Friday, Poland’s top court ordered local authorities to register same-sex marriage certificates issued abroad in the national registry for administrative and residency purposes. In their ruling, the judges overturned a previous decision by the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw.

Pro-LGBTQ groups in Poland have hailed the verdict as the “first step” toward changing the laws in their favor.

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In October 2024, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-EU coalition government introduced a draft bill to recognize civil partnerships, including for same-sex couples. However, it faced pushback from the government’s conservative partner, the Polish People’s Party (PSL), as well as the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party.

President Karol Nawrocki, elected last June on a pledge to defend Catholic values, has ruled out signing any bill that would undermine the constitutional definition of marriage. Nawrocki has accused the EU of “ideological madness” and vowed to resist what he described as the bloc’s attempts to interfere in Polish politics.

Last year, the EU’s top court ruled that Poland had violated EU law by refusing to recognize the marriage of two Polish nationals registered in Germany in 2018. The Luxembourg-based court said Polish laws violated EU guarantees of freedom of movement and the right to “lead a normal family life.”

The ECJ ruling applies automatically to all 27 member states, some of which, including Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, and Slovakia, do not recognize same-sex marriages.