Family law  and regulation of marriage fall within the competence of individual Member States of the European Union. This includes also the regulation and recognition of same-sex marriages. However, according to the opinion of Advocate General Richard de la Tour in case C-713/23, Member States are obligated to recognize same-sex marriages concluded in other Member State, despite their national sovereignty in this domain.

Facts of The Case

Case C-713/23 was referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) by the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland to provide a preliminary ruling.. In this case, Mr. Cupriak-Trojan and Mr. Trojan got married in 2018 in Germany. Nonetheless, in 2019 they decided to move to Poland as citizens using their civil status of a married couple. However, the Head of the Civil Registry Office of Warsaw rejected their request to have their German marriage certificate transcribed into Poland’s civil registry. The decision was made on the grounds that according to Polish law, marriage may be concluded only between a man and a woman; such transcription would therefore be contrary to the fundamental principles of the Polish legal order.

 

Questions For the Preliminary Ruling of the CJEU

According to Article 7 and 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Charter), everyone has the right to respect for their private and family life, as well as the right not to be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation. Furthermore, in accordance with Article 20 and 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), every EU citizen has the right to move and reside freely within the Member States.

Since Polish law does not legally recognize the same-sex marriage, the appellate court - the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland, decided to refer to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling. The question was whether the interpretation of the articles of the Charter and TFEU mentioned above precludes the authorities of a Member State from refusing to recognise a marriage certificate originating in another Member State and transcribe it into the national civil registry, on the ground that the law of the state does not provide for same-sex marriage.

 

Opinion of the Advocate General of the CJEU

Advocate General of the CJEU Richard de la Tour in his opinion states that the regulation of marriage falls within the competence of Member States and that EU law does not affect that competence. Nonetheless, he emphasizes that when exercising this competence, Member States are required to comply with EU law.

According to the European Court of Human Rights, the absence of any possibility of legal recognition and protection for same-sex couples under the Polish law bringssame-sex couples into a point where they are not able to regulate fundamental aspects of their own lives. Member States are therefore obliged to establish appropriate procedures that would ensure that couples living in the same-sex marriages concluded in another Member State are not left in a legal vacuum. When recognizing the same-sex marriages, Member States may therefore provide alternative solutions to the transcription of a marriage certificate into the state’s civil register. However, in the absence of such an alternative - as in this case - Member States are obliged to transcribe the marriage certificate in question into the state’s civil register. Otherwise, the freedom of married same-sex couples to move and reside, and the right to respect for private and family life under the EU, law could be limited. 

 

Conclusion

The case of Jakub Cupriak-Trojan, Mateusz Trojan v. Wojewoda Mazowiecki (C-713/23) highlights the evolution of the legal protection for same-sex couples within the EU. The opinion of Advocate General Richard de la Tour emphasizes the principle that although member states of the EU retain competence over family law and marriage matters, they must exercise such competence in compliance with EU law. His opinion thus ensures that same-sex couples do not face legal and administrative barriers undermining their rights to private and family life under Article 7 of Charter and their freedom of movement under Article 21 of TFEU. Moreover, by requiring recognition of same-sex marriage, either through transcription of the marriage certificate or any alternative solutions, the EU seeks to prevent such couples from being left in a legal vacuum.

 

Sources:

  1. Communications Directorate Press and Information Unit. (2025, April). Advocate General Richard de la Tour: EU law requires a Member State to recognise the marriage between persons of the same sex concluded in another Member State and does not require the transcription of the marriage certificate in a civil register [press release]. Available from: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2025-04/cp250043en.pdf
  2. Opinion of Advocate General Richard de la Tour delivered on 3 April 2025, Case C‑713/23, Jakub Cupriak-Trojan, Mateusz Trojan v Wojewoda Mazowiecki other parties to the proceedings Prokurator Prokuratury Okręgowej w Warszawie, Prokurator Regionalny w Warszawie. Available from: https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=297549&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=6964143