In a landmark ruling, the European Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday that all member states must recognize same-sex marriages conducted in other EU nations.
Although laws surrounding marriage are supposedly to be determined at the national level, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) found that same-sex marriage certificates must be recognised throughout the bloc, even if they are not permitted under national legislation.
According to Euronews, the transnational court ruled that refusing to recognise a same sex marriage conducted in a fellow member state is “contrary to EU law because it infringes that freedom and the right to respect for private and family life”.
The judges added that such circumstances “may cause serious inconvenience at administrative, professional and private levels, forcing the spouses to live as unmarried persons.”
The decision came amid a case brought by two Polish citizens who were wed in Germany in 2018. Upon returning to their homeland, the Polish government refused to recognise their same-sex marriage certificate given that such marriages are prohibited in Poland.
They challenged the decision to the Polish Supreme Administrative Court, which outsourced its decision to the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice.
The ECJ judges found that “the spouses in question, as EU citizens, enjoy the freedom to move and reside within the territory of the member states and the right to lead a normal family life when exercising that freedom and upon returning to their member state of origin.”
“When they create a family life in a host member state, in particular by virtue of marriage, they must have the certainty to be able to pursue that family life upon returning to their member state of origin.”
Although the court said that the ruling does not mean that national governments must legalise same-sex marriages within their own borders, the decision will likely undermine national decisions on such issues.
Conservative countries like Poland and Hungary have long been a target of Brussels for their stances on LGBT issues, both of which have faced financial penalties from the EU over domestic laws.
In September, the populist government in Slovakia passed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages as was already the case in Hungary.
However, both countries recognise same-sex marriages performed abroad and therefore are unlikely to be impacted by Tuesday’s ruling from the European Court of Justice.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on X: Follow @KurtZindulka or e-mail to: [email protected]
Read the full article here