Polish Constitutional Court blocks recognition of foreign same-sex marriages

Poland’s Constitutional Court has ruled that same-sex marriages performed abroad cannot be recognised by Polish authorities, citing a constitutional definition of marriage as a union between a woman and a man. The decision deals a setback to LGBTQ+ couples seeking cross-border legal security within the European Union.

The ruling runs against previous positions taken by the Court of Justice of the European Union and Poland’s own Supreme Administrative Court. In November, the EU’s top court held that Member States must recognise same-sex marriages concluded in other EU countries so that EU citizens can continue family life when they move between Member States. In March, Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court relied on that EU judgment to conclude that same-sex marriages contracted abroad should be recognised by the Polish state, and ordered a Warsaw registry office to register a marriage between two men who wed in Berlin in 2018.

That administrative court ruling had been due to take effect at the end of August. Lawmakers from the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party challenged it before the Constitutional Court. The tribunal’s three-judge panel, chaired by president Bogdan Święczkowski and composed entirely of judges appointed with PiS backing, ruled unanimously that foreign same-sex marriages fall outside the constitutional notion of marriage.

Presenting the decision, Judge Stanisław Piotrowicz stated that transcription of a foreign marriage certificate may only apply to couples who meet what he called the “constitutional principle of heterosexual marriage.” He added that any shift in the legal concept of marriage would require an amendment to Poland’s constitution and a far-reaching revision of related legislation, including the family code and civil status law.

The case focused on a regulation issued by the Digital Affairs Ministry and published on 22 May. The measure was scheduled to enter into force on 23 August and updated registry forms by replacing fixed fields labeled “woman’s details” and “man’s details” with a flexible “man/woman’s details” option. This technical change would have enabled civil registry offices to register same-sex marriages contracted abroad without additional court proceedings.

PiS MP Marcin Warchoł, representing the challengers, argued that the minister exceeded his authority by intervening in an area he claimed belongs to statute-level law, namely the legal definition of spouses’ sex. According to the application, recognising such unions through regulation would amount to changing the constitution indirectly.

Piotrowicz clarified that the tribunal’s judgment does not entirely remove the regulation from the legal system, but renders it inoperative for same-sex marriages within the scope defined by the court.

Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski, who had announced in May that same-sex couples married abroad would be able to register their marriages at Polish civil registry offices, rejected the tribunal’s ruling. In a statement on X, he described the Constitutional Tribunal as illegitimate and said it was again attempting to block implementation of European court judgments. He insisted that the transcription of foreign same-sex marriage certificates remains lawful, noting that Poland has already registered 184 such documents and confirming that the regulation will still take effect on 23 August.

The tribunal’s decision feeds into an ongoing institutional conflict over its own status. Since a parliamentary resolution in March 2024, the Polish parliament has refused to publish the tribunal’s verdicts in the Journal of Laws, arguing that some panels were constituted in breach of legal standards. Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek has publicly questioned the validity of its decisions and has avoided calling them rulings.

For LGBT people and their families in Poland, the judgment deepens legal uncertainty around family life, residence, and parental rights within the EU framework. It also increases the importance of practical support networks, inclusive employers and LGBT-affirming professional communities.

Those seeking workplaces that respect diversity and equality across borders can explore opportunities and resources by signing up to myGwork.

Interested in becoming a corporate member? Click here for more info.