On Friday, Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court issued one of the most important rulings in recent years concerning the status of same-sex couples in the country. The court overturned both the earlier judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court and the decision of the Warsaw civil registry office, which had refused to transcribe the marriage certificate of two Polish citizens who married in Berlin in 2018. At the same time, the Supreme Administrative Court ordered the head of the civil registry office to make the entry within 30 days of receiving the returned administrative files.
The case concerned a couple who, after marrying in Germany, wanted to be treated in Poland as spouses once they returned to the country. The registry office refused, arguing that Polish law does not provide for marriage between persons of the same sex. It was precisely this dispute that led the Supreme Administrative Court to refer a preliminary question to the Court of Justice of the European Union, a move that proved crucial to the entire proceedings.
The turning point came with the CJEU judgment of 25 November 2025 in case C-713/23. The Court held that a Member State is obliged to recognize a same-sex marriage lawfully concluded in another EU Member State if such recognition is necessary to ensure that EU citizens can continue their family life after exercising their right to free movement and residence. In practice, this means that if, in a given country, the only way to provide such recognition is through transcription of the marriage certificate, then refusal to do so violates EU law.
Today’s ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court shows that the Polish court regarded the EU interpretation as binding within the domestic legal order as well. According to reports from the courtroom, the court also indicated that Article 18 of the Polish Constitution, which defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, does not constitute an absolute obstacle to recognizing a same-sex marriage lawfully concluded under the law of another EU Member State. This is an important signal, because it shifts the dispute from a purely ideological level to one of concrete administrative obligations and legal interpretation.
This does not mean, however, that marriage equality has just been introduced in Poland. The ruling concerns the recognition of a specific marriage lawfully concluded abroad and the performance of obligations arising under EU law, not the opening of the possibility of contracting such marriages in Poland itself. From both a political and legal perspective, this is still not a statutory change, but rather an important precedent that may force public offices to change their previous practice.
The significance of this decision therefore goes beyond a single case. If this line of case law is maintained, Poland will come under growing pressure to adapt its administrative practice to the standards arising from EU law. For same-sex couples who married abroad, Friday’s ruling may mark the beginning of a real change: not yet full marriage equality, but already a clear crack in the wall of refusal that has stood until now.
