Slovak legal challenge over same-sex marriage recognition

Diplomats Ivan Novotný and Metod Špaček have filed a lawsuit against the Slovak Ministry of Interior at the Administrative Court in Bratislava. The legal action seeks the recognition of their 2020 marriage, which was legally performed in Austria, into the Slovak special registry.

The plaintiffs argue that the Ministry’s refusal violates the Slovak Constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights, and European Union law. Specifically, they cite the principle of freedom of movement and the Court of Justice of the European Union’s ‘Trojan’ ruling, which mandates that member states must apply recognition mechanisms equally to same-sex couples when marriages are performed in other EU states.

The Slovak Interior Ministry, led by Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok, has rejected the application. The Ministry maintains that the national Constitution defines marriage strictly as a union between a man and a woman. While acknowledging the primacy of EU law, the Ministry argues that recognizing a marriage for freedom of movement purposes does not require formal registration under Slovak domestic law. The claimants have noted that while other nations with similar constitutional definitions, such as Poland, have complied with EU rulings, Slovakia has not.