The Prague Regional Court proposed the US delete a few words in the law governing private international law. In the Czech Republic, registered same-sex partners cannot adopt a child as the legal framework privileges married opposite-sex couples.
It points specifically to Czech citizens adopting or being adopted in another country. According to the US, this concerns not only getting around the law on purpose, but also the cases of adoptive parents who have been living abroad for some time already.
It says it considers the decision as a proof that the Czech Republic needs to legalise marriage for everybody. Without equal marriage, "rainbow" couples and families with children suffer and are degraded as second-class citizens every day, Filip Milde from the group said. The amendment concerning same-sex marriages is in the lower house of Czech parliament, but has not been sent to the second reading yet.
The US discussed the amendment in reaction to the case of a registered same-sex couple, a Czech and a Trinidad and Tobago citizen living in the U. A court in New Jersey approved their decision to adopt two children with the U. Because the men feared legal complications when travelling to the Czech Republic with the children, they asked the district court in Nymburk, central Bohemia, to recognize the U.
The court in Nymburk dismissed their request, arguing with the private international law that does not allow for the approval of a decision against Czech law. According to the Prague court, the condition of compliance with Czech law is unconstitutional since it does not enable Czech justice to recognize a "factual and legal reality," protect family life, and decide in favor of the best interest of the child.
