Lithuania's Justice Ministry continues resisting same-sex partnership registration
A regional court in Klaipėda has rejected the Justice Ministry's appeal, ordering the state to register the partnership of two women married abroad. The ministry has not yet decided whether to escalate the case to the Supreme Court.
The Klaipėda Regional Court has upheld a lower court ruling requiring the Lithuanian state to register the partnership of two women who married abroad, dealing another legal defeat to the government in disputes over same-sex couples' rights.
The Justice Ministry has not yet decided whether to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. The case forms part of a growing wave of litigation over recognition of same-sex partnerships in Lithuania, where parliament has not passed legislation setting out a registration procedure.
Following a Constitutional Court ruling that same-sex couples must have access to legal recognition of their family relationships, more couples have turned to the courts. The ministry has repeatedly appealed such rulings, arguing that people already married abroad should not additionally be registered as partners domestically.
Lawyer Karolis Kurapka, who represents same-sex couples, called the ministry's reasoning inconsistent, noting he would support recognising the marriages themselves — but Lithuanian law currently permits marriage only between a man and a woman.
Justice Vice Minister Kristina Zamarytė-Sakavičienė said the ministry has not yet assessed whether to appeal, though cassation proceedings remain possible to clarify how such rulings should be implemented. She stressed the Constitutional Court's ruling obliges the state as a whole, not specifically the Justice Ministry, and that no statutory registration procedure exists.
Dainius Žalimas, a European Parliament member and former Constitutional Court president, argued the absence of legislation should not block a functioning system, since registration rules are approved by the justice minister. He described the ministry's stance as amounting to disguised homophobia.
The ministry has appealed roughly 20 court decisions on partnership registration. Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius has previously said civil partnership legislation is not among his government's priorities.
