Budapest, February 11, 2009 – The Hungarian Government has approved today a new bill on registered partnership. The bill replaces a previous law on registered partnership that was struck down by the Constitutional Court in December 2008 just weeks before its supposed entry into force. As opposed to the previous version, the new bill introduces the institution of registered partnership only for same sex couples, however, it also introduces a different scheme of domestic partnership registration for both same sex and different sex couples. Support for the bill in the Parliament is still an open question.
Two months ago, on December 15, 2008 the Hungarian Constitutional Court ruled that the law on registered partnership adopted by the Hungarian Parliament a year earlier was unconstitutional. The Court found that the solution chosen by the legislator – i.e. creating an institution similar to marriage for both same sex and different sex couples – duplicates the institution of marriage for different sex couples, and thus contradicts the special protection of marriage enshrined in the Constitution. On the other hand the Court also held that same sex couples have the right to an institution similar to marriage. Within a day Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány instructed the Minister of Justice and Law Enforcement to prepare a new bill on registered partnership taking into account the opinion of the Court. After consultations with various LGBT organizations, the Ministry prepared a new bill that has been approved by the Government today.
The new bill retains much of the content of the previous bill with one exception: the institution of registered partnership would only be available to same sex couples. Establishment and dissolution of registered partnerships would be the same as for marriage, and registered partners would be entitled to most of the rights available for married couples. Notable exceptions are the right to take the partners' name and the right to adopt children. Besides introducing registered partnerships for same sex couples, the bill would also introduce a new scheme for registering domestic partnerships. Unlike registered partnership, this new opportunity would not grant any new rights or duties to couples cohabiting without marriage, but would only make it easier for them to prove the existence of such a relationship. This second registration scheme would be available to both same sex and different sex couples.
Although the Government fully supports the new bill, its adoption by the Parliament is still an open question. Hungary currently has a minority government after the liberals left the government coalition early last year. Conservative opposition parties heavily criticized the previous bill on the account that it introduced same sex marriage under a different name. It is yet to be seen whether their position has changed as a result of the Constitutional Court declaring such an institution a constitutional right. Based on "parliamentary mathematics" the bill has a high chance of being passed: governing parties hardly ever vote against proposals by their own government and the liberals fully support the new bill. It is, however, very hard to predict how delicate negotiations involved in running a minority government will affect voting on the bill.
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