Romania condemned by the European Court of Human Rights for its refusal to recognize the unions of same-sex couples

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled on Tuesday May 23 that by refusing to legally recognize the union of same-sex couples, Romania violated the rights of the latter. In his stop (in English)the Strasbourg-based court found, by five votes to two, that there had been a violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, relating to the right to respect for private and family life .

Twenty-one same-sex couples had brought applications before the ECHR in 2019 and 2020. They explained that they had not been able to access many rights recognized by law for married couples. Romania, where homosexuality was only decriminalized in the early 2000s, still does not allow marriage or civil union between people of the same sex.

But “none of the arguments put forward by the government to justify the restriction of legal unions to heterosexual marriage alone can outweigh the interest of the applicants to have their relationships recognized”explained the European Court of Human Rights.

“Allowing recognition of same-sex unions would not undermine the institution of marriage since heterosexual couples can still marry.”

The European Court of Human Rights

in his stop

The judicial arm of the Council of Europe recalled that member states are required to provide a legal framework allowing adequate recognition and protection of the relationship between same-sex couples and benefit from a certain latitude of the form of recognition and the type of protection granted.