Lack of recognition for same-sex unions in Poland violates human rights, rules European court

The lack of legal recognition for same-sex partnerships in Poland has left such couples in a “legal vacuum” that violates their human rights, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled.

“Member states [of the European Convention on Human Rights] are required to provide a legal framework allowing same‑sex couples to be granted adequate recognition and protection of their relationship,” declared the ECHR in its ruling.

The case against Poland was brought by four Polish women: Katarzyna and Sylwia Formela, who married one another in the United Kingdom in 2015; and Anna Rosuł and Marta Handzlik-Rosuł, who married in Denmark in the same year.

When the two couples separately sought to have their foreign marriages registered in Poland, their requests were refused on the basis that recognising them would be contrary to the Polish legal order, including the constitution, which mentions “marriage as a union of a man and a woman”.

The Formelas took their case as far as the Supreme Administrative Court – the highest authority in Poland on such issues – but in 2018 saw their challenge rejected.

The Formelas noted that, due to the lack of recognition of their marriage in Poland, they were prevented from benefiting from spouses’ rights under Polish law to make tax-free donations to one another, to file joint tax returns, to receive benefits for caring for one another, and to extend health insurance to one another.

Sorry to interrupt your reading. The article continues below.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

In a ruling issued last week, the ECHR found in favour of all four claimants. The court noted that it was not addressing the issue of whether Poland should itself introduce the possibility of same-sex marriage, but rather whether it should recognise legal same-sex unions conducted abroad.

“By refusing to register the applicants’ marriages and failing to ensure they have a specific legal framework for recognition and protection, the Polish authorities have left them in a legal vacuum and have not provided for the core needs of same-sex couples in a stable and committed relationship,” found the court.

“This amounts to a breach of the applicants’ right to respect for their private and family life” under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, added the court, whose judges made a unanimous decision on the case.

The latest ruling is the second time that the ECHR has found Poland’s lack of recognition and protection for same-sex couples to be a violation of their human rights, following a landmark judgment issued in December last year.

The lack of such rights in Poland has contributed to the country being ranked as the worst in the European Union for LGBT+ people for the last five years running.

However, whereas the former national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government, which ruled from 2015 until the end of 2023, led a vociferous anti-LGBT campaign, the new, more liberal coalition that took power in December has pledged to improve LGBT+ rights, including by introducing same-sex unions.

A bill aiming to do so was added to the government’s agenda in July. However, it faces an uncertain passage through parliament and the possibility of veto by PiS-aligned president Andrzej Duda.

Main image credit: Ivan Radic/Flickr (under CC BY 2.0)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.