From Social Invisibility to Legal Recognition: Same-Sex Partnership in Latvia

Abstract

The authors offer a deep insight into the recent development of same-sex partnership regulation in Latvia. The judgments of the Constitutional Court of 12 November 2020 and 8 April 2021 required the guarantee of legal, social and economic protection for same-sex families and respect for their human dignity. In response to these judgments, the Saeima adopted same-sex partnership legislation on 9 November 2023. The authors analyse the content of these regulations and the previous legislative discussions that led to the adoption of this law. The implementation of the Constitutional Court judgments was ensured by the administrative courts in specific cases even before the Saeima adopted the relevant laws. According to the judgment of the Supreme Court of 10 December 2021, the administrative courts began to recognize same-sex families legally. Relevant case law is also analysed in this article.