With or Without Private International Law: Critical Commentary on the Czech Case of Recognition of Foreign Same-sex Marriage

The article contributes to the ongoing European scholarly debate within the field of Private International Lawbyexaminingnational judicial approaches tochallenges to the application of Private International Law norms torecognition of a personal status acquired abroad. It brings a critical perspective on the Czech jurisdictional approach to recognition,in the light of a recent case regarding a doctrinally challenging exampleofrecognition of a same-sex marriage concluded abroad. Thecritical analysis presented in the article focuses onhowCzech administrative bodies and courts appliedlegal recognition in this case,and the doctrinal complianceof this method from the view of Private International Law. The article uses language interpretation to find that the legal grounds authorizing the Special Civil Registry Office, an administrative body competent to register foreign marriages, are unclear aboutthe scope of administrative discretion this body is entitled to. This lack of clarity can establish non-compliance with the basic principles of Czech Administrative Law. Furthermore, the article identifies doctrinal shortcomingsin the adjudication ofthis case at both the administrative and judicial levels, as the argumentation of the subsequent instances in the given case employs the provisions of Private International Law as marginal arguments, as opposed toarguments based on Civil Law, which it regards ascentral, while the overall premises for both the recognitive activity and the right to reject recognition are anchored in Private International Law. In this sense,it is concluded thatthe recognitive activity in the field of marriage recognition in the Czech Republic was in this caseexercised on the basis of Private International Law but without Private International Law.