The Senate also emphasized that a same-sex marriage concluded abroad would not be an obstacle for these same persons to register a partnership in Latvia and thus achieve recognition of family relationships. However, since the applicants have indicated that the legal non-recognition of the marriage concluded in Sweden in Latvia violates their right as citizens of the European Union to move and reside freely in the Member States of the European Union, the Senate, when examining the case, will have to assess its circumstances in relation to European Union law – hence their own application for clarification on the implications of this.
The Senate of the Latvian Supreme Court has asked the Court of Justice of the European Union to clarify whether refusal to register a same-sex marriage concluded in another country violates the right of EU citizens to move and reside freely within the Member States.
The Senate’s Department of Administrative Cases has stayed proceedings in a case in which the Citizenship and Migration Board was asked to include information about a same-sex marriage concluded in Sweden in Latvia’s Register of Natural Persons.
The applicants in the case are a Latvian citizen and a dual Latvian-Swedish citizen, whose permanent place of residence is in Latvia and who wish to have an entry made in the Register of Natural Persons regarding the same-sex marriage they entered into in Sweden.
The Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs rejected the applicants’ request, stating that the Latvian legal framework only recognises marriage between persons of opposite sex and does not provide for the inclusion of information about the marriage of a same-sex couple in any section of the register. The Administrative District Court and the Administrative Regional Court left the institution’s decision unchanged.
The Senate found that since 2021, same-sex couples in Latvia have the opportunity to be recognized as a family – initially by applying to the administrative court, but since 2024, such couples can register a civil partnership, which provides some of the rights of spouses.
The Senate found that the Court of Justice of the European Union has not yet examined cases whose factual circumstances correspond to the case under consideration, therefore it is not possible to answer unequivocally the question of whether the right to free movement of European Union citizens is violated.
Consequently, the proceedings in the case under consideration will be put on hold until the answer of the Court of Justice of the European Union is received.
Select text and press Ctrl+Enter to send a suggested correction to the editor
Select text and press Report a mistake to send a suggested correction to the editor
Tell us about a mistake