The Judgment in the Case of Przybyszewska and Others v. Poland against the Background of the ECtHR’s Jurisprudence in Cases of Same-Sex Couples

On 12 December 2023, the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment ordering Poland to institutionalize relationships between same-sex couples. This judgment was a consequence of a well-established line of jurisprudence and the application of the evolutionary doctrine of interpretation of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as a living instrument. The judgment in Przybyszewska and Others v. Poland is the first in this matter issued in relation to Poland, and the next in which the court’s line of jurisprudence on the issue of same-sex couples has been defined. It is an important signal for such couples in Poland and indicates the existence of a general Strasbourg standard developed in recent years. In the judgment issued in relation to Poland, the European Court of Human Rights explicitly stated that the current legal status in the country in relation to same-sex couples does not meet the Strasbourg minimum specified in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It took the European Court of Human Rights three decades to extend protection to cohabiting couples under the right to family life, and another three to adopt the obligation to legally recognize and protect same-sex unions. The ECtHR judgment in Przybyszewska and Others v. Poland is a milestone in Polish family law, although some see it rather as a stone that broke the framework of the traditional family protection system.