The court said that, in the absence of official recognition, same-sex couples in Poland "are mere de facto unions, even if ... a valid marriage has been contracted abroad."
"This is another ruling by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) requiring Poland to ensure protection and recognition of same-sex couples’ relationships. It marks an important day as we begin a new phase of work on registered partnership laws," Equality Minister Katarzyna Kotula wrote on X.
“We must ensure protection and recognition of the rights of same-sex couples,” she added.
Registered partnership legislation
Meanwhile, Poland's parliamentary majority is moving forward with legislation on registered partnerships for both opposite-sex and same-sex couples.
Draft bills published in October propose amendments to more than 200 existing laws.
The proposals would allow partners, regardless of gender, to share a surname, file joint tax returns, access medical information about each other, inherit property and arrange burials.
More than 6,000 comments were submitted during public consultations and interministerial discussions.
Kotula told state news agency PAP that the bills have been submitted to the government’s standing committee for review.
Several ministries are involved in revising the proposals before they are sent to parliament.
End of 'LGBT-free zones'
The ECHR ruling comes as Poland rolls back measures introduced under the former conservative government led by the Law and Justice (PiS) party, which lost power in late 2023.
In a symbolic step, authorities in the southeastern town of Łańcut repealed a resolution targeting "non-heteronormative individuals," marking the end of so-called "LGBT-free zone" nationwide.
The Campaign Against Homophobia, a Polish civil rights organization advocating for the LGBT community, called the move a "shared, historic success."
In previous years, several local governments that adopted anti-LGBT resolutions were denied millions of euros in European Union and Norwegian funding for planned projects.
(mp/gs)
Source: IAR/hudoc.echr.coe.int/X/@KotulaKat/@KPH_official
CORRECTION:
A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to same-sex partnerships instead of same-sex marriages as being at the center of the April 24, 2025 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in the Andersen v. Poland case (Application no. 53662/20). We regret the error and apologize for any confusion it may have caused.