Diplomats sue Slovak Ministry over same-sex marriage recognition

Diplomats Ivan Novotný and Metod Špaček have filed a lawsuit at the Administrative Court in Bratislava against the Slovak Ministry of Interior. The legal action challenges the Ministry's decision to refuse the registration of their marriage, which was performed in Austria in 2020, into the special registry.

The plaintiffs argue that the refusal violates both Slovak and European Union law, specifically citing the principle of freedom of movement and the recognition of personal and family status. They also reference the Court of Justice of the European Union's ruling in the ‘Trojan’ case, which established that if a member state provides a mechanism for recognizing foreign marriages, it must apply that mechanism equally to same-sex couples.

Novotný and Špaček contend that the refusal infringes upon their rights to family and private life as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic and the European Convention on Human Rights. They noted that while Poland shares a similar constitutional definition of marriage, Polish authorities have complied with EU rulings to recognize such unions, whereas the Slovak Ministry has not.