Civil unions in the Czech Republic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Same-sex civil unions
Recognized nationwide in:
Denmark (1989) | Norway (1993)
Israel1 (1994) | Sweden (1995)
Greenland (1996) | Hungary1 (1996)
Iceland (1996) | France (1999)
Germany (2001) | Portugal (2001)
Finland (2002) | Croatia1 (2003)
Austria1 (2003) | Luxembourg (2004)
New Zealand (2005) | United Kingdom (2005)
Andorra (2005) | Czech Republic (2006)
Slovenia (2006) | Switzerland (2007)
Colombia (2007)
Was recognized before legalization of same-sex marriage in:
Netherlands (nationwide) (1998)
Spain (12 of 17 communities) (1998)
South Africa2 (1999)
Belgium (nationwide) (2000)
Canada (QC, NS and MB)3 (2001)
Recognized in some regions in:
United States (6 states+DC) (1997) :

CA, CT, HI, ME, NJ, VT

Argentina (Buenos Aires, Rio Negro) (2003)
Australia (Tasmania) (2004)
Italy (Some municipallies) (2004)
Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) (2004)
Mexico (Mexico City and Coahuila) (2007)
Recognition debated in:
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Brazil
Chile
Costa Rica
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Liechtenstein
Mexico
Poland
Taiwan
United States
Uruguay
Notes:
1 - In form of unregistered cohabitation.
2 - Explicitly referred to as the "civil unions Act" in South Africa.
3 - Explicitly referred to as "civil unions" in Quebec (2002), and called "domestic partnership" in Nova Scotia (2001). In Manitoba (2002) and marriage extended to same-sex partners nationwide (2005).
See also
Same-sex marriage
Registered partnership
Domestic partnership
Common-law marriage
Marriage, unions and partnerships by country
Homosexuality laws of the world
This box: view  talk  edit

The Czech Republic grants unregistered cohabitation status to "persons living in a common household" that gives couples inheritance and succession rights in housing, and also offers registered partnerships for same-sex couples. Registered partnerships grant several rights of marriage, including, inheritance, hospital, spousal privilege, and alimony rights, but do not allow adoption, widow's pension, or joint property rights. The registered partnership law was passed in March 2006 and went into effect on July 1, 2006. [1]

[edit] History

There had been several attempts to allow same-sex civil partnerships. In 1995, the government 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.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

In other languages