Litigation regarding the recognition of same-sex families and registration of same-sex marriages in Lithuania continues. After the Court of Appeal rejected the applicants’ request the case was submitted as a cassation appeal. The appeal argues that the previous courts’ judgment did not follow the practice of the European Court of Human Rights in similar cases. The court failed to seek clarification from the Constitutional Court, did not address legal gaps, and violated an individual’s right to family, marriage, and non-discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation. This information was reported by GayLine.LT.

Aivaras Žilvinskas, the lawyer in the cases filed by the Tolerant Youth Association, has stated that the fact that this litigation has been going on for almost a year indicates that the Lithuanian courts are avoiding taking the initiative to address legislation gaps that have been purposefully left by the Seimas. According to him, someone is trying to pretend that international law and Strasbourg Court rulings do not exist or apply to Lithuania, and that there is no discrimination when some families are protected by the state while others are not even recognized.

The lawyer admitted that previous courts’ decisions brought disappointment. According to him, Lithuania is acting as if it were a part of some Russian block, rather than a member of the European Union where 24 countries out of 27 recognize same-sex families.

"The judgement states, for example, that I and my partner failed to prove that we are of different genders. It is a complete mockery because we didn’t even try to prove such a thing. The mere usage of such an argument implies that one of us should change one’s gender so that we could get married in Lithuania, which is absurd," said Martynas Norbutas, one of the applicants annoyed by the judgement of the Court of Appeal.

The applicant highlighted a contradiction in the Court of Appeal’s reasoning. On one hand, the Court stated that a notary must certify the agreement to marry a partner. On the other hand, the same judgement implies that same-sex marriages are not legally possible in Lithuania according to the court’s opinion.

"They suggested that we should conclude the agreement at a notary, which, according to the court, is not possible. I see it as a mockery. It’s disappointing that courts, which are supposed to implement justice, are using such statements at all", said the man who has been living with his partner for over 16 years and is now seeking to legalize their relationship.

The applicants hope that the Supreme Court will refer the case back to the court of first instance, but before doing so, they will appeal to the Constitutional Court for clarification as to whether the current prohibition on same-sex marriages does not contradict the Constitution’s provisions of equality, as well as the constitutional principles of the supremacy of the rule of law, justice, and non-discrimination, along with Lithuania’s international obligations.