Czech Senate Rules Against Adoption of Children Abroad by Same-Sex Couples
The Czech Senate has ruled against the proposal of the Regional Court to amend current legislation that prevents same-sex partners who are registered abroad to adopt Czech children.
Adopting children is not possible for same-sex couples in the Czech Republic and the court stated that this move should prevent the bypassing of the rule by using foreign legislation.
According to critics, the amendment to private international law would be an interference with the Civil Code. Václav Láska (Senator 21), the author of the proposal, promised to submit a comprehensive amendment to Czech law by the spring of next year.
According to Láska, the change could also help unmarried heterosexual couples who adopt a child abroad. It would affect several dozen couples a year. According to the senator, the current form of the law is in conflict with the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms.
Same-sex couples can marry in 14 of the European Union’s 27 countries, according to advocacy group ILGA-World.
Since 2006, the Czech Republic has allowed registered partnerships for same-sex couples, which grant several rights of marriage, including inheritance and hospital visitation rights, but not joint adoption, spouse’s pension, or joint property rights.
Before the October 2017 election, LGBT activists launched Jsme Fer (“We Are Fair”), a campaign to legalise same-sex marriage within four years.
The campaign polled all candidates for the Chamber of Deputies for their position on the topic, with 82 of the 200 MPs elected supportive of same-sex marriage.
A same-sex marriage bill was introduced to the Chamber of Deputies in June 2018, but its progress has since stalled. Yesterday, the Chamber discussed an amendment to the Civil Code that would permit marriage for LGBT couples, alongside a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as union of a man and a woman.
The debate saw several parties divided on the issue.
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