Instead of “husband” and “wife” “first spouse”. This is how the government wants to solve the problem of same-sex weddings

Marshal of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty (Left Wing) emphasized that his club has a clear position on the Supreme Administrative Court's judgment, which obliged the head of the capital's registry office to transfer the marriage certificate of two men to the Polish register. This judgment must be implemented, he emphasized.

On March 20, the Supreme Administrative Court overturned the ruling of the capital's administrative court and the previous decision of the capital's Civil Registry Office refusing to enter a same-sex marriage certificate of Polish citizens concluded abroad in the civil status register. At the same time, he obliged the head of the Civil Registry Office to transfer such a same-sex marriage certificate to the register within 30 days. In this case, in 2023, the Supreme Administrative Court sent a preliminary question to the Court of Justice of the EU. Two years later – in November 2025 – The Court ruled that a Member State is obliged to recognize a same-sex couple's marriage legally concluded in another EU countryeven if the law of that country does not recognize this type of relationship. After the CJEU's response, the case returned to the Supreme Administrative Court's docket.

Czarzasty: This needs to be implemented

On Wednesday, in a conversation with journalists, the Speaker of the Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty (Left Wing), noted that at the moment, the Supreme Administrative Court's decision in this matter had not reached the President of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski.

Certainly, any steps can be taken in this matter when this decision reaches Mr. Trzaskowski – he said. He added that the Left Club is monitoring the situation in this matter on an ongoing basis.

He said that the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Digital Affairs from the Left, Krzysztof Gawkowski, sent a letter to President Trzaskowski on April 3, in which he “informed him that the moment he (Rafał Trzaskowski) receives these documents (…), he is at his disposal with knowledge on how to implement it (the Supreme Administrative Court's judgment).” – We are waiting whether President Trzaskowski will take advantage of the opportunity to meet Prime Minister Gawkowski – added Czarzasty.

Czarzasty, who is the chairman of the New Left, which, together with the PPS and the Labor Union, forms the parliamentary club of the Left, emphasized that the leftist community has a clear position on this matter. – This decision of both the European court and the Polish court must be implemented – he said .

On this matter – as he said – he also contacted “the mayors of cities from the Left”. – If such an opportunity arises, all our presidents will, of course, implement it, but the legal formula must be defined and certain processes must be completed – he said.

– If we say that all decisions of the CJEU should be implemented, because this is a law that also applies to Poland, also in this respect – Czarzasty said. He added that talks are ongoing with ministers, “mainly with Minister Kierwiński”, regarding the transcription of same-sex marriage certificates. – Piece by piece, it seems to me that the last straw in this matter as far as Minister Kierwiński is concerned – said Czarzasty.

A breakthrough regarding foreign same-sex marriages in Poland

On Tuesday, the Mayor of Warsaw, Rafał Trzaskowski, commented on the issue of transcription of marriage certificates of same-sex couples. “We will implement the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court, there is no discussion here at all. However, it must be emphasized that the judgment concerns one specific case and there is not yet even a proven method of its implementation,” he wrote on social media. “We are currently working on how to effectively execute this judgment in a technical sense, as soon as possible after the return of the files from the Supreme Administrative Court (when this happens is not up to us),” he said.

The Ministry of the Interior and Administration pointed out that the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of March 20 this year, which obliged the Civil Registry Office to transcribe the marriage certificate of two men, “concerns an individual case and in this respect, as a final decision of a Polish court, it is strictly respected.”

“Work is underway on solutions enabling the implementation of the CJEU judgment, which is of a general nature and applies to all analogous cases. We deny the claims about attempts to limit the effects of the case law, because the government's goal is to develop effective legal solutions,” the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration said. He emphasized that full implementation of the CJEU guidelines and the introduction of the transcription procedure require legislative changes.

At the beginning of April, representatives of the Ministry of Digitization and the Ministry of the Interior and Administration told PAP that the ministries are working on solutions that will enable the execution of the Supreme Administrative Court's judgment regarding the transfer of same-sex marriage certificates concluded abroad to the civil status register. This concerns an amendment to the regulation on templates of documents issued in the field of civil status registration. It provides for a change in the template for abridged and complete marriage certificates – replacing the terms “woman” and “man” with the terms “first spouse” and “second spouse”, thus enabling the transcription of same-sex marriage certificates.

The March judgment concerned the marriage of two Poles legally concluded in 2018 in Berlin. The couple decided to move to Poland. Wanting to be treated as spouses in the country, the men submitted an application for the transcription of the German marriage certificate to the Polish civil status register. However, they were met with a refusal, justified by the fact that Polish law does not allow same-sex marriages. (PAP)

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