The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) condemned Poland on Tuesday for violating the right to respect for private life due to the lack of a legal framework guaranteeing the “recognition and protection” of same-sex couples.
The Strasbourg-based court was contacted by five Polish couples from Lodz, Kraków and Warsaw whose marriage had been rejected by local authorities on the grounds that Polish law only allows the union of a man and a woman. Their appeals to the national courts were rejected.
These couples felt “disadvantaged by European judges due to the lack of official recognition of their relationship”, for example on issues of taxation, social rights or family rights, the institution explains in a press release.
The ECHR ruled in their favor. It takes this opportunity to recall that the signatory States to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights “are obliged to provide a legal framework that enables people of the same sex to benefit from appropriate recognition and protection of their couple relationships, whether through marriage or any other form of union.
Previously, in 2023, Poland, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria and even Ukraine were condemned for the same reason.
The ECtHR emphasizes that “social attitudes prevailing in a given country cannot, by themselves, justify differential treatment on the basis of sexual orientation”.
She reminds that “there is no reason to believe that the legal recognition and protection of same-sex couples in itself could harm traditional families.”
The ECHR is an international tribunal responsible for adjudicating violations of the European Convention on Human Rights in the 46 countries that have ratified this text.
These countries, including France and all EU members, are united in an international institution, the Council of Europe, which is also based in Strasbourg.