Lithuania’s Justice Ministry said Tuesday it appealed a court ruling ordering the registration of a same-sex partnership to a higher court.
Last April, the Constitutional Court declared that the partnership institute provided for in the Civil Code contradicted the Constitution because it only included unions between a man and a woman, failing to establish same-sex relationships.
Following that decision, the Vilnius City District Court for the first time recognised a same-sex partnership last August.
The ministry filed the appeal with the Vilnius Regional Court in mid-March, asking whether the lower court exceeded its powers by recognising the partnership before the Seimas had passed appropriate legislation.
Justice Minister Rita Tamašunienė said on Tuesday the Vilnius court “perhaps slightly exceeded its competence, as that falls under the jurisdiction of administrative courts”.
“The appeal was filed due to these uncertainties," she added.
Former MP Tomas Vytautas Raskevičius, who previously campaigned for same-sex partnership law, criticised the ministry's decision, saying it was "delaying the implementation of the Constitutional Court's ruling".
"To my knowledge, the ministry's leadership has made a political decision to appeal all partnership cases. Instead of administering justice, the Ministry of Justice has become a hostage to ideological radicals," Raskevičius wrote on social media.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
