[Jason Hovet／Reuters／2016-06-28]
The Czech Constitutional Court ruled on Friday that individuals in same-sex partnerships may be allowed to adopt a child, overturning a ban that it called discriminatory.
A Prague court asked the country’s highest court to rule on the ban after a man registered in a gay partnership filed a lawsuit when authorities could not list him as a suitable adoptive parent under the current partnership law.
The Constitutional Court struck down the ban, saying it was discriminatory because a gay person living outside a partnership would meet the requirements to adopt but would be denied that right once he entered a partnership.
“One group of people – registered partners – was groundlessly excluded from the possibility of adopting children,” the Constitutional Court said in its decision.
The court’s ruling will allow individuals in the same-sex partnership to adopt but not both people together as a couple.
The Czech Republic has allowed same-sex partnerships since 2006, becoming the first country in central Europe to allow the union. It does not allow same-sex marriage.
