Same-sex marriage

(Application No. 30141/04), 26 June 2007

Find Court’s judgement here.

  • The applicants, a same-sex couple, complained that the authorities’ refusal to allow them to contract marriage violated Article 12 of the Convention.
  • ILGA-Europe, together with FIDH, ICJ and AIRE Centre submitted the following:
    • There is a need for guidance on whether “family life” in Art. 8 should be interpreted as including same-sex couples. They consider that Karner v. Austria (2003) implies that same-sex couples (without children) enjoy “family life”. Furthermore, national courts in European and other democratic societies have treated unmarried same-sex couples (without children) as families.
    • If the European Convention does not yet require equal access to legal marriage for same-sex couples, it is indirect discrimination based on sexual orientation to limit a particular right or benefit to married different-sex couples, but provide no means for same-sex couples to qualify. There also is a growing consensus in European and other democratic societies that same-sex couples must be provided with some means of qualifying for rights or benefits attached to marriage.
  • The European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment on 24 June 2010.
  • The Court considered that Article 12 does not impose an obligation on the respondent Government to grant a same-sex couple such access to marriage (para 63). However, the case is important because the Court held that the relationship of the applicants, a cohabiting same-sex couple living in a stable de facto partnership, falls within the notion of “family life”, just as the relationship of a different-sex couple in the same situation would (paras 94-95). Further, the Court observed that legislation gave the applicants a possibility to obtain a legal status equal or similar to marriage in many respects. 

See also

News

Joint statement: EU Court of Justice strengthens trans rights by calling for the automatic recognition in birth certificates

ACCEPT, TGEU and ILGA-Europe welcome today’s decision of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU)   said that the refusal of an EU Member State […]
read more
News

Joint statement: Welcoming European Court judgement on Poland’s failure to protect same-sex couples married abroad

The European Court of Human Rights has found that Poland breached the right to respect for the family life of two same-sex Polish couples married […]
read more
News

Joint statement: EU Court of Justice Advocate General calls on Hungary to correct trans refugee’s gender marker in national registries

Háttér Society, ILGA-Europe and TGEU welcome an opinion from the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union stating that Hungarian immigration […]
read more
News

Joint statement on Italian Constitutional Court ruling on non-binary & trans persons’ rights

ILGA-Europe and TGEU welcome a judgement of the Italian Constitutional Court finding that non-binary peoples’ rights are protected under the Italian Constitution In a judgment […]
read more
News

Latvia failed to protect human rights of victim of a homophobic attack, european Court finds

The European Court of Human rights has made a judgement in a case where the Latvian authorities declined to prosecute an anti-LGBTI attack as a […]
read more
News

Joint Statement: Human rights groups regret outcome of European Court ruling on France’s criminalisation policies in relation to sex work

On 25 July, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled in M.A. and Others v. France that there has been no violation of Article […]
read more
News

Trans woman should have been allowed access to hormone therapy in prison, says European Court

The European Court of Human Rights has found that Poland violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, protecting the right to private […]
read more
News

Joint Statement welcoming European Court ruling that Russia’s trans parent’s foster-care termination violates family rights

In a judgement published yesterday, the European Court of Human Rights found that Russia violated the right to private and family life of a trans […]
read more
News

Joint Statement: European Court confirms requirement for legal gender recognition in Bulgaria despite rejected complaint

TGEU, ILGA-Europe, Bilitis, and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee welcome the European Court of Human Rights’ confirmation of Bulgaria’s obligation to provide for reliable legal gender […]
read more
News

Joint statement in support of South African athlete Caster Semenya

ILGA-Europe, The International Commission of Jurists and the organisation Intersex International Europe jointly file a third-party intervention before the Grand Chamber of the European Court […]
read more
News

EU Court of Justice Advocate General calls for automatic recognition of legal gender recognition in birth certificates

In a significant development regarding the rights of trans people in the European Union, the Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European […]
read more
News

European court to hear landmark case regarding discrimination against non-binary people

The Court of Justice of the European Union is to decide on lawsuit over the lack of provision of an option for non-binary persons, which […]
read more
News

Top European Court Strikes Out Case Against Azerbaijan for LGBTI Arrest and Torture

Last week, the European Court of Human Rights decided to strike out A. v Azerbaijan and 23 other applications. The case involved a wave of […]
read more
Report

Inventory of relevant SOGIESC case law and pending cases before the ECtHR and CJEU

In order to focus our strategic litigation efforts across Europe to fully protect and advance LGBTI rights, with this inventory ILGA-Europe wants to support members […]
read more
News

Greece adopts historic bill introducing marriage equality

We welcome and celebrate with local activists the news that the Greek parliament has adopted an historic bill introducing marriage equality, granting marriage and adoption […]
read more
News

Significant European Court judgments in two cases concerning violence against LGBTI people involving state agents

Two successful European Court cases brought against Russia underline state obligations to protect LGBTI community from violent counter demonstrators and general hate motivated violence.
read more
News

Romania failed to protect same-sex couples, European court rules

European court has found that Romania breached the right to respect for the family life of 21 same-sex Romanian couples by failing to recognise their relationships.
read more
Press Release

Romanian transgender man’s landmark case requesting that Romania acknowledges his UK gender recognition referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union

Arian Mirzarafie-Ahi, a transgender man with Romanian and British citizenship, has filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in Romania against Romanian authorities over their refusal to recognize […]
read more
News

European Court rules against Lithuania labelling LGBTI-inclusive fairytale book harmful to children

Published in 2013 by the Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences and written by the late lesbian writer, Neringa Dangvyde Macate, the book was entitled ‘Amber […]
read more
News

After Polish Case, CJEU Rules to Protect Self-employed Workers based on Sexual Orientation

In December 2017, a self-employed worker and his partner published a music video on YouTube aimed at promoting tolerance towards same-sex couples. Shortly after the […]
read more
Press Release

LGBTI organisations welcome EU parental recognition proposal with the best interests of the child at its core

EU-wide parenthood recognition is key in ensuring equal protection for all children in the Union, say ILGA-Europe and NELFA.
read more
News

Sexual orientation is not a reason to terminate a contract with a self-employed worker, says Advocate General of the CJEU

Today, the Advocate General of the CJEU has issued an opinion in the case of J.K. vs the Polish public broadcaster company TP, stating that discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment is not acceptable under EU law.
read more
News

Rainbow families have the right to move and reside freely, EU court reiterates

The Court of Justice of the EU has stated that birth certificates issued in an EU country must be recognised across the EU, and that EU countries should protect the freedom of movement of rainbow families.
read more
Case Law

A.B. and K.V. v Romania

Recognition of same-sex marriages in the context of freedom of movement in the EU through the prism of implementation of CJEU’s Coman judgment Submitted jointly […]
read more
Blog

How Baby Sara and her mums have pushed forward the rights of all rainbow families across the EU

When an EU country recognises a child and its same-sex parents as a family, all EU countries should recognise them as such, so to guarantee their freedom of movement. This is what the EU’s top court ruled in December. But how this case has advanced LGBTI rights in the European Union and what comes next for rainbow families?
read more
Case Law

Macaté v. Lithuania

Freedom of expression, warning labels restricting artistic expression.
read more
Blog

What has 2021 meant to the LGBTI movement in Europe? Listen to our latest podcast episode to find out this year’s highlights

As 2021 comes to an end, we have collected some of the moments, events and trends that have marked the year in the latest episode of The Frontline, ILGA-Europe’s podcast about LGBTI activism and lives in Europe and Central Asia. Read here some of the episode’s highlights and find out reasons to stay hopeful in 2022.
read more
Case Law

Judgment in Case Stolichna obshtina, rayon ‘Pancharevo’

Child, being a minor and a Union citizen, whose birth certificate was drawn up by the host Member State and designates as parents two persons […]
read more
Press Release

Top EU Court Recognises Relationship of Same-sex Parents and their Children Under EU Law

In a landmark judgement, the Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that a child and its same-sex parents must be recognised as […]
read more
Case Law

Coman and Others v Romania

Recognition of same-sex marriages in the context of freedom of movement in the EU through the prism of implementation of CJEU’s Coman judgment.
read more