Civil unions in the Czech Republic

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Same-sex unions
Recognized nationwide in:
Denmark (1989) | Norway (1993)
Israel¹ (1994) | Sweden (1995)
Greenland (1996) | Hungary (1996)
Iceland (1996) | France (1999)
South Africa (1999) | Germany (2001)
Portugal (2001) | Finland (2002)
Croatia (2003) | Luxembourg (2004)
New Zealand (2005) | United Kingdom (2005)
Andorra (2005) | Czech Republic (2006)
Slovenia (2006) | Switzerland (starting 2007)
Was recognized before
legalization of same-sex marriage in:
Netherlands (nationwide) (1998)
Spain (12 of 14 communities) (1998)
Belgium (nationwide) (2000)
Canada (QC and NS)² (2000)
Recognized in some regions in:
Argentina (Buenos Aires, Rio Negro) (2003)
Australia (Tasmania, ACT) (2004)
Italy (10 regions) (2004)
Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) (2004)
United States(10 states) (1997)
Recognition debated in:
Austria
Chile
Greece
Ireland
Liechtenstein
Poland
Notes:
1 - In form of common-law marriage.
2 - Explicitly referred to as "civil unions" in Civil unions in Quebec>Quebec (2002), Nova Scotia (2001), and Manitoba (2002), common-law marriage extended to same-sex partners nationwide (2000).
See also
Same-sex marriage
Registered partnership
Domestic partnership
Common-law marriage

Homosexuality laws of the world

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The Czech Republic allows unregistered cohabitation status to "persons living in a common household" that gives couples inheritance and succession rights in housing and allows registered partnerships for same-sex couples. They grant several rights of marriage, including, inheritance, hospital, spousal privilege, and alimony rights, but does not allow adoption, widow's pension, or joint property rights. The registered partnership law was passed in March 2006 and went into effect that July.

History

There had been several attempts to allow same-sex civil partnerships. In 1995, the governement put forth a bill to update the civil code on family law to allow Danish-style registered partnerships, but the bill died by the end of the year. In 1997, a similar bill reached the chamber, but failed by two votes. In 1999, the chamber voted against another bill.

On 11 February, 2005, another bill failed by one vote. It was backed by 82 out of the 165 deputies present - most voting Social Democrats, Communists, the Freedom Union members and some deputies for the opposition Civic Democratic Party (ODS).

In April 2005, a new partnership bill passed its first reading in the chamber with 82 votes for and 9 against. On 16 December 2005, it passed its third reading with 86 votes for, 54 against, and 7 MPs not voting. On 26 January 2006, it was passed by the Senate (65 for, 14 against).

On February 16, 2006, President Vaclav Klaus vetoed the bill. In response, the Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek said that he would seek a parliamentary majority (101 votes) in the lower chamber to override the veto and did so successfully on March 15, 2006 with the exact number of votes needed (101) out of 177 votes casted. The bill became one of topics where political parties tried to position themselves before the June election. Opinion polls suggest that over 60 percent of Czechs support same-sex marriage or civil unions.

External links

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