A group of lawmakers from Lithuania’s Social Democratic, Liberal, and Conservative parties have submitted amendments to the Civil Code to legalise gender-neutral civil partnerships, after Justice Minister Rita Tamašunienė said she would not prepare a government-backed partnership bill.
Under the proposal registered on Tuesday, a partnership would be defined as an agreement between two individuals to live together and form family-like relations “based on mutual responsibility, understanding, emotional attachment, support, bonds, and a voluntary decision to assume certain rights and obligations”.
Partners would be persons who formally register their partnership in accordance with the law. The authors say the amendments would create a new legal institution of registered partnership in the Civil Code.
“Although de facto family relationships are not included in the proposed legal regulation due to their uncertainty and lack of traceability, the introduction of registered partnership would provide more legal tools for courts to handle disputes between people living together in factual partnerships. This is expected to improve the legal clarity of their status,” the bill’s explanatory note states.
The proposal specifies that the partnership would be gender-neutral, allowing it to be formed by both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
According to the draft, a partnership could be entered into by two adults who are not related by blood, not married to each other or anyone else, and not already in a registered partnership.
Partnerships would have to be certified by a notary and recorded in the national Marriage and Partnership Register.
“Partners must be loyal and respectful to each other, provide moral and material support, and, according to their abilities, contribute to meeting the common needs of the family or the other partner,” the proposed Civil Code amendment states.
One partner could also authorise the other to act or represent them in legal matters.
The amendments to the Civil Code and other laws were submitted by Social Democrats Laurynas Šedvydis, Ruslanas Baranovas, Birutė Vėsaitė, Modesta Petrauskaitė, Julius Sabatauskas, and Algirdas Sysas; Liberals Simonas Gentvilas, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, and Simonas Kairys; and Conservatives Arūnas Valinskas and Matas Maldeikis.
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