Act on Same-Sex Civil Partnerships Adopted by the Polish Sejm: Time for President Nawrocki’s Veto

The Sejm of the Republic of Poland voted by a majority in favor of the Act “on the Status of the Closest Person in a Relationship and on a Cohabitation Agreement” (Sejm paper no. 2110, vote no. 62) and of the provisions implementing this Act (Sejm paper no. 2111, vote no. 103). 230 members of parliament voted in favor of the bill, representing Donald Tusk’s left-liberal governing coalition. 200 voted against the bill—from the right-wing opposition parties, and a minority of the Polish People’s Party (PSL) that is part of Tusk’s coalition.

The Ordo Iuris Institute has been monitoring the progress of work on the project from the very beginning. It was first announced simply as the “Registered Partnerships Act.” This project was at the time subject to public consultations, which lasted from October until November 2024. The Ordo Iuris Institute for Legal Culture also participated in them and indicated, in its opinion that the draft “should be definitively rejected as clearly contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which in Articles 18 and 71 protects the family and marriage as a union of a woman and a man, definitively excluding the institutionalization of any alternative form of cohabitation,” and that “the proposed provisions grant cohabiting unions, including same-sex ones, the vast majority of attractive privileges belonging to marriages under the Family and Guardianship Code, while at the same time depriving that union of the presumption of permanence and relieving cohabitants, including same-sex ones, of numerous obligations traditionally associated with marriage.”

The renaming of the bill from the unequivocal “civil partnerships” to the enigmatic “closest-person status” was announced by the leaders of the Left and the Polish People’s Party (PSL) at a conference on October 17, 2025, as a substantive change. In reality, however, instead of a new draft bill, Poles were proposed the same bill as before, with only cosmetic changes. The Ordo Iuris Institute therefore organized a press conference that very same day, during which it was explained that the new institution—in addition to its obvious incompatibility with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland—”is supposed to be a kind of fast food. The consequence is the redirection of social choices toward a less stable institution, leading to more frequent dissolution of relationships and generating a higher level of family breakdown.” During the conference, an extensive analysis authored by a member of the board of Ordo Iuris, attorney-at-law Rafał Dorosinski, was also presented, titled “Apparent equality, real destruction. On the consequences of institutionalizing informal partnerships” Later that same day, October 17, 2025, in an interview with the all-news channel Polsat News on October 17, 2025, Rafał Leśkiewicz, the press spokesperson for the President of the Republic of Poland, recalled that “the Polish Constitution defines marriage as a union between a woman and a man.” Meanwhile, in a X post from October 20, 2025, the president himself stated again: “I will not sign any bill that undermines the status of marriage, which is protected by the Constitution. I am ready to discuss closest-person status, but it cannot in any way come close to the protected institution of marriage.”

On March 10, two representatives of the Ordo Iuris Institute attended a meeting of the Sejm’s special committee, dealing with the bill. Rafał Dorosiński explained that “from the very beginning, when bills on civil partnerships were being proposed—that is, for over 20 years now—the Supreme Court has consistently taken an unequivocal position, stating that this is impermissible, that it is contrary to the Polish Constitution.” Atty. Nikodem Bernaciak, a senior analyst at Ordo Iuris, explained that the law has nothing to do with “status of a close relative,” because “if two elderly people live together out of economic necessity—simply due to economic compulsion—but do not maintain a conjugal relationship, then this law in no way addresses the problems of such people.” On May 28, 2026, shortly before the  final Sejm vote on the “status of the closest person”, the Ordo Iuris Institute also published a commentary on the draft, recalling that “the Supreme Court explicitly stated that ‘the lack of legal regulation of non-marital unions is not a gap in the law,’ but rather ‘an expression of the framers of the Constitution’s deliberate axiological choice’.” The Supreme Court reiterated this position in 2007, 2011, and 2012—and reiterated it in a document dated January 26, 2026, opining on the drafts under review. The government ignores the consistent stance of the highest judicial body.”

On the same day, May 27, 2026, Minister Paweł Szefernaker (Head of the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Poland) and Barbara Socha (Chair of the Council for Family and Demography at the President of the Republic of Poland, of which the attorney-at-law Rafał Dorosiński, a member of the Ordo Iuris Management Board, is also a member) presented the head of state’s position regarding the government bill: “The first step is the introduction of civil partnerships, the second step is the recognition of foreign same-sex marriages, and then it leads to further steps: to the adoption of children.” Therefore, “there is and will be no consent from the President to introduce civil partnerships.” It should thus be expected that President Karol Nawrocki, in view of the unconstitutionality of the law, will exercise his right of veto, granted to him by Article 122(5) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.

See also:

•  Poland’s Draft “Closest person” Bill is “Civil Partnerships” Under a New Name

Source of cover photo: iStock