Poland’s government says it will continue recognising same-sex marriages performed elsewhere in the European Union, despite the country’s Constitutional Tribunal declaring the registration process unconstitutional.
The disputed ruling, issued unanimously by a three-judge panel on Tuesday, 28 July, found that a government regulation enabling foreign same-sex marriage certificates to be entered into Poland’s civil registry was incompatible with the country’s constitution.
However, Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s administration rejected the tribunal’s decision, arguing that the court is improperly constituted and that its announcement does not change the current legal position.
Tribunal Targets New Registration Rules
The regulation at the centre of the dispute was issued by Poland’s Digital Affairs Ministry and published on 22 May.
Scheduled to take effect on 23 August, it changes official civil-status forms that previously contained separate fields for a woman and a man. The revised documents can accommodate spouses of either sex, allowing registry offices to record marriages involving two men or two women.
The Constitutional Tribunal ruled that the regulation was invalid only to the extent that it enabled documents to be issued for marriages “that do not constitute a union between a woman and a man”.
It found the measure inconsistent with Article 92, Paragraph 1, in conjunction with Article 18 of the Polish Constitution.
Article 18 states: “Marriage, being a union of a man and a woman, as well as the family, motherhood and parenthood, shall be placed under the protection and care of the Republic of Poland.”
Judge Stanisław Piotrowicz said foreign marriage certificates could be transcribed only when the relationship met the constitution’s definition of marriage as a union between a woman and a man. He argued that any broader change would require constitutional and legislative reform rather than a ministerial regulation
Government Says Recognition Will Continue
Poland’s government immediately rejected the decision.
Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski described the Constitutional Tribunal as illegitimate and said preparations to implement the registration changes would continue.
“The illegal tribunal of Mr. Święczkowski wants to deprive hundreds, and perhaps thousands in the future, of the right to happiness,” Gawkowski said.
“Work on the regulation supporting transcription will continue, and we will not stop.”
He added that entering foreign same-sex marriages into the registry “is, and will remain, legal”.
Government spokesperson Adam Szłapka said the tribunal’s current composition was legally defective and argued that its announcement could not be treated as a valid judgment. The government has declined to publish tribunal decisions in Poland’s official Journal of Laws since 2024, preventing them from formally taking effect.
Polish authorities have already transcribed 184 foreign marriage certificates involving 368 people, according to Gawkowski.
“These are people who were supposed to be treated with dignity, and the Polish state will treat them with dignity,” he said.
Ruling Deepens Poland’s Judicial Crisis
The dispute is not only about LGBTQ+ rights. It is also part of a wider constitutional conflict over the legitimacy and independence of Poland’s highest courts.
All three judges involved in Tuesday’s ruling were appointed with the backing of the former right-wing Law and Justice government. The case itself was brought by Law and Justice lawmakers.
The Court of Justice of the European Union has previously ruled that Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal is not independent or impartial because of politically influenced appointments.
The EU court found that the tribunal had undermined effective judicial protection and disregarded the primacy and consistent application of European Union law.
That contested status means the latest judgment may have little immediate practical effect under Tusk’s government, although it further complicates an already unsettled area of Polish law.
EU Court Ordered Recognition in 2025
The current conflict began with the case of two Polish men, Jakub Cupriak-Trojan and Mateusz Trojan, who married legally in Germany in 2018.
When they returned to Poland, authorities refused to enter their German marriage certificate into the Polish civil registry because the country does not allow same-sex couples to marry.
In November 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Poland could not refuse to recognise the couple’s marriage when doing so interfered with their rights to freedom of movement, family life and equal treatment.
The ruling did not require Poland to introduce marriage equality domestically. It held that an EU member state must recognise a same-sex marriage legally performed in another member state when transcription is the only available way for the couple’s marriage to be recognised.
Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court applied that judgment in March 2026, ordering authorities to record the couple’s marriage. It found that doing so would not alter Poland’s domestic definition of marriage or undermine the country’s national identity.
Warsaw registered its first foreign same-sex marriage in May, with Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski promising that the capital would process similar applications without requiring every couple to pursue an individual court case.
Tusk Apologised to Same-Sex Couples
Prime Minister Donald Tusk publicly committed his government to implementing the Polish and European court decisions earlier this year.
He described recognition as “a matter of human dignity: the right to happiness, the right to equal treatment by the state”.
“I would like to apologise to all those who, for many, many years, felt rejected and humiliated,” Tusk said. “For many years, the state has failed the test.”
“We have committed to – and I will personally ensure this – abiding by the rulings as a priority,” he added.
Tusk stressed that entering foreign marriages into the registry would not legalise same-sex marriage within Poland or introduce adoption rights for same-sex couples.
Recognition Remains Uncertain
Poland remains one of the few European Union countries without marriage equality or a national civil-union system for same-sex couples.
The Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling represents another challenge to legal recognition, but it has not ended the government’s plans. The regulation remains scheduled to take effect on 23 August, and ministers insist that foreign same-sex marriages will continue to be registered.
The result is an increasingly complicated legal conflict involving Poland’s government, its contested Constitutional Tribunal and the European Union’s highest court.
For married same-sex couples, the question is no longer simply whether European law requires Poland to recognise their relationships. It is whether Poland’s institutions will agree on which court has the authority to ensure that recognition happens.
