Lawyers from the Estonian Human Rights Centre have achieved an important legal victory: the Supreme Court has found that a provision of the Act on Granting International Protection to Aliens—which excluded a same-sex partner who had lived with a refugee for years from being recognised as a family member—is unconstitutional and therefore invalid.

A person granted international protection in Estonia wished to bring their partner to Estonia, with whom they had lived for more than ten years. They submitted an application for family reunification to the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), which rejected the request based on the Act on Granting International Protection to Aliens. According to § 7(2) of the Act, a partner who had lived in a de facto relationship with the refugee before their arrival in Estonia was not considered a family member—even if marriage or registration of the partnership had been legally impossible in their country of origin.

Lawyers from the Estonian Human Rights Centre, Uljana Ponomarjova and Nora Kurik, argued before the Tallinn Circuit Court that their client had no possibility to marry or register their partnership, as the laws of their country of origin repress LGBT people. “If the criteria set out in the Act—requiring marriage or a registered partnership—were applied strictly, such families would never be able to benefit from family reunification in Estonia. This situation discriminates against LGBT families and infringes rights protected by the Estonian Constitution,” explained Ponomarjova.

The Tallinn Circuit Court agreed with the lawyers’ arguments and referred the case to the Supreme Court for constitutional review. The Supreme Court has now ruled that § 7(2) of the Act is unconstitutional and invalid. This means that a de facto partner who lived in a genuine relationship with a refugee before their arrival in Estonia—where marriage or registration was legally impossible regardless of the couple’s wishes—must be recognised as a family member.

“The Supreme Court’s decision once again confirms that families in Estonia can also be formed by same-sex couples, and that the Police and Border Guard Board should base its decisions on Estonia’s legal system, not on those of undemocratic states,” emphasised Egert Rünne, Director of the Estonian Human Rights Centre. “The Centre’s lawyers have unique expertise in the field of international protection in Estonia and have helped ensure the safety of hundreds of people over the years. They also deserve special recognition for helping to clarify our legal framework through their work.”

Read the Supreme Court judgment