Poland will implement EU court order to recognise same-sex marriages, says justice minister

Nov 26, 2025 | Law, Politics, Society

Keep our news free from ads and paywalls by making a donation to support our work!

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

Poland’s justice minister has confirmed that the government will implement a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) requiring Poland to recognise same-sex marriages conducted in other EU member states.

However, the office of right-wing, opposition-aligned President Karol Nawrocki has condemned the EU court’s decision, declaring that it “will not succumb to the terror of rainbow rulings” that “completely destroy the family”.

If Poland is deemed by the EU to have failed to implement the ruling, it could face ongoing fines until it does so. That happened twice under the former rule of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, with which Nawrocki is aligned.

On Tuesday, the CJEU ruled on a case brought by two Polish men who had married in Germany but found their efforts to have their union recognised in Poland rejected by the registry office and courts because Poland’s constitution refers to marriage as being between a man and a woman.

The CJEU deemed that this infringed the freedom to move and reside within the EU as well as the right to respect for private and family life. It ordered Poland to change its system for recognising marriages conducted in other member states so that it does not discriminate against same-sex couples.

Speaking to broadcaster TVP on Tuesday evening, justice minister Waldemar Żurek confirmed that Poland “will have to implement this ruling in some way”. He added that, while the constitution mentions marriage as being between a man and a woman, it “does not actually prohibit same-sex marriage”.

Article 18 of the constitution states: “Marriage as a union of a man and a woman, family, motherhood and parenthood shall be placed under the protection and care of the Republic of Poland.”

Asked how the government would implement the CJEU ruling, Żurek said that they had “just started discussing this today” and would need to find agreement within the ruling coalition, which stretches from the socially liberal left to the conservative centre-right.

“I’m happy about this [situation], because it will be a further education for our society and a lesson in tolerance,” added the minister. “Of course, it won’t be easy, as we know we still have a very conservative society, but I can already see significant changes.

Meanwhile, Katarzyna Kotula, a secretary of state in Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s chancellery with responsibility for issues relating to LGBT+ rights, confirmed to news website Gazeta.pl that talks were taking place with the justice and interior ministries about implementing the CJEU ruling.

“This is a historic ruling that begins a completely new phase in the legal protection of same-sex couples,” said Kotula. “It clearly states that Poland is obligated to transcribe foreign marriage certificates of same-sex couples.”

 

The office of the president, however, reacted very differently to the European ruling. Nawrocki’s deputy chief of staff, Adam Andruszkiewicz, told broadcaster TV Trwam that it was an “attempt to circumvent” the Polish constitution and “introduce social engineering”.

As president, Nawrocki has the power to veto legislation approved by the government’s majority in parliament – a right he has regularly exercised. However, if the government finds a non-legislative path to recognise foreign same-sex marriages, Nawrocki would be unable to stop it.

“There is a very high risk that this is a very dangerous precedent that will seek to impose rainbow marriages on Poles…which will completely destroy the family,” he declared. “[We] will not succumb to the terror of rainbow rulings.”

Andruszkiewicz held the ruling up as an example of what Nawrocki had complained about in a major speech earlier this week calling for EU reform. The president argued the EU, initially created as an economic union, was increasingly trying to “dictate the terms” of member states’ political and judicial systems.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Kaleta, who served as a deputy justice minister in the former PiS government, argues that, because the EU does not have competence to regulate family law, including defining marriage, the CJEU had exceeded its authority by issuing this week’s ruling.

Polish law currently does not allow any form of recognised same-sex union. However, opinion polls show that a large majority of the public support the introduction of same-sex civil partnerships.

In December 2023, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Poland’s lack of legal recognition and protection for same-sex couples violates their human rights.

Most parties in the current ruling coalition favour introducing same-sex civil partnerships. However, their proposals have faced opposition from more conservative elements in the government and also a certain veto from Nawrocki.

Last month, in an effort at compromise, the ruling coalition presented a new bill that would not specifically introduce civil partnerships, but would allow unmarried partners, including same-sex couples, to sign an agreement granting them certain rights.

After the plans were unveiled, Nawrocki said that he would not sign any bill that “undermines the unique and constitutionally protected status of marriage” but that he was “open to discussion” about measures to “help people, regardless of their gender, relationships, or age, to manage certain matters”.


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.

Main image credit: European Central Bank/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Pin It on Pinterest

Support us!