The Vilnius District Court on Friday rejected an appeal from a same-sex couple seeking to have their marriage recognised by the Lithuanian authorities.
The two male claimants were asking the court to oblige the Vilnius City Civil Registry Office to register their marriage and to have it entered into the Register of Marriage Contracts.
The decision can still be appealed to the Vilnius Regional Court.
According to Gayline.lt, which reported on the case, the court stated that the provision on marriage in Article 38 of the Constitution “is clear and specific, and does not give rise to any presumption that it can be interpreted as conferring the right to marry irrespective of the sex of the persons concerned”.
Article 38 of the Lithuanian Constitution says that marriage is only between a man and a woman.
“Thus, according to official constitutional jurisprudence, the constitutional concept of marriage (as opposed to the constitutional concept of the family) is not gender-neutral, marriage can only be between a man and a woman,” the court’s ruling is quoted.
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Martynas Norbutas, one of the applicants, said in a statement that he was disappointed with the court’s decision because Lithuania “has not fulfilled its obligation to protect homosexual families”.
“It is disappointing that this court did not consider it important to change the situation,” says Norbutas.
Aivaras Žilvinskas, the claimants’ lawyer, has confirmed that they plan to appeal the decision.
“Together with the applicants, we are determined to keep fighting as long as it takes, and we will definitely appeal the court decision. We are also doing this in the public interest, as this is a matter of concern to thousands of people in Lithuania,” said Žilvinskas.
This case is one of three in which same-sex couples are seeking to have Lithuania recognise their civil partnership or marriage.
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In April, the Vilnius City District Court already rejected the request for registration of the same-sex partnership in the Register of Civil Status Acts, stating that apart from the Law on Partnership, there is no legal act that could be used to grant the applicants’ request.
The court then said that, although the Constitutional Court recognises that the concept of family is gender-neutral, it could not create new institutions, which can only be done by the parliament.
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