Polish Constitutional Tribunal rules against registering foreign same-sex marriages

Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled on July 28 that parts of a government regulation intended to simplify the registration of foreign same-sex marriages at civil registry offices nationwide from August 23 were unconstitutional. The decision followed a petition by lawmakers from the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS). The government, however, said it would continue implementing the rules because it does not regard the tribunal’s current composition as lawful.

According to the Polish Press Agency , the regulation changes civil-status forms: separate fields for “woman’s details” and “man’s details” would be replaced by an option to specify either a man or a woman for each spouse. This would allow foreign same-sex marriage certificates to be transcribed without an individual court ruling. The regulation was published on May 22 and is due to take effect on August 23.

The tribunal unanimously held that the forms violated Articles 18 and 92 of the Constitution. Judge Stanisław Piotrowicz said that a foreign certificate could be transcribed only when the marriage was between a man and a woman, and that such a major change to the institution of marriage would require a constitutional amendment and a systemic revision of family law. The PiS lawmakers, represented by Marcin Warchoł, also argued that ministers had tried to regulate the issue through a lower-ranking legal act.

That interpretation conflicts with a March 20 ruling by Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court . The court ordered Warsaw’s civil registry to transcribe the German marriage certificate of two men and held that Article 18 was not an absolute barrier to recognising such unions. Its judgment followed the binding interpretation of the Court of Justice of the European Union , which in November 2025 linked recognition to EU citizens’ rights to free movement and family life.

Deputy Prime Minister and Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski called the tribunal “illegal” and said state institutions would continue preparing to launch the system in August. Since 2024, the government has not published decisions by the tribunal’s current composition in Poland’s official journal of laws. In December 2025, the EU court also found the tribunal not independent or impartial because of the way some judges were appointed.

The dispute does not concern allowing same-sex couples to marry in Poland, which Polish law still does not provide for. It concerns entering marriages legally concluded in other EU countries into the national register. As of July 29, the government regulation is formally scheduled to take effect on August 23, but the conflict between the courts and the authorities leaves its future application legally contested.