Poland court rejects foreign same-sex marriage registration

Poland's Constitutional Tribunal has unanimously ruled that a government regulation allowing the registration of same-sex marriages performed in other European Union countries is unconstitutional, setting up a direct clash with EU law and the current government. The ruling, issued on July 28, 2026, states that such unions cannot be transcribed into Poland's civil registry because they conflict with the nation's constitution, which defines marriage exclusively as a union between a man and a woman.

The regulation had been introduced by the Digital Affairs Ministry following two earlier court decisions. In November 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Poland must recognize same-sex marriages legally conducted in other EU member states to respect the couples' freedom of movement. That ruling stemmed from a case involving a Polish same-sex couple who married in Berlin in 2018 and were denied registration upon returning to Poland. In March 2026, Poland's own Supreme Administrative Court affirmed that obligation.

In response, the government, led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, revised official marriage document templates in May, replacing separate fields for "man"...