The Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) has obliged the civil registry office to enter into the Polish register a same-sex marriage certificate concluded abroad. In November 2025, the Court of Justice of the European Union spoke on this matter.
In 2023, the Supreme Administrative Court referred a preliminary question regarding same-sex marriage to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Two years later – in November 2025 – the Court ruled that a Member State is obliged to recognize a marriage of a same-sex couple legally concluded in another EU country, even if the law of that state does not recognize such unions. Following the CJEU’s response, the case returned to the docket of the NSA.
The proceedings concern the marriage of two Polish men legally concluded in 2018 in Berlin. The couple decided to move to Poland. Seeking to be treated as spouses in their home country, the men applied for transcription of their German marriage certificate into the Polish civil status register; however, they were refused, as Polish law does not allow same-sex marriages.
Today, the Supreme Administrative Court issued a ruling obliging the civil registry office to enter into the Polish register a same-sex marriage certificate concluded abroad.
The Court decided to overturn the judgment of the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw, which had dismissed the couple’s complaint, as well as to annul the decision of the head of the Civil Registry Office of the Capital City of Warsaw refusing the transcription. It also ordered the head of that office to transfer, by way of transcription, the marriage record into the civil status register within 30 days from the return of the administrative case files.
The NSA delivered its judgment in a three-judge panel – Judge Leszek Kiermaszek (rapporteur; presiding judge), Judge Mirosław Gdesz, and Judge Marzenna Linska-Wawrzon.
In addition to overturning the WSA ruling and the decision of the voivode, and obliging the civil registry office to register the “marriage” of two men, the Court also decided that the Mazovian Voivode must pay the applicants over PLN 14,000 as reimbursement of part of the proceedings’ costs.
LGBTQ+ circles have already interpreted today’s decision as the first step toward changing the law in Poland.
“Today’s ruling is precedent-setting. If, in the near future, the civil registry office actually carries out the transcription, a same-sex marriage – between two men – will begin to function within the Polish legal order. This will open the door for many couples who have been in marriages unrecognized in Poland for years. Recognizing a marriage concluded abroad is the first step on the path to equality, and the coming months and years will show whether the legal system will indeed guarantee equal rights to all persons in formal relationships, including in areas such as health insurance coverage, joint tax filing, tax exemptions, or inheritance,” said Campaign Against Homophobia in a press release.