Poland / Rzeszów Voivodship Administrative Court / II SA/Rz 1221/23

- Commissioner for Human Rights (Rzecznik Praw Obywatelskich) v Tuszów Narodowy Commune Council (Rada Gminy Tuszów Narodowy)
Deciding body type
National Court/Tribunal
Type
Decision
Decision date
13/03/2024
  • Poland / Rzeszów Voivodship Administrative Court / II SA/Rz 1221/23

    Key facts of the case:

    On 29 March 2019, the Commune Council of Tuszów Narodowy adopted a position on the ‘containment of LGBT ideology by the local government community’. The Council additionally adopted a declaration entitled ‘Local government free of LGBT ideology’. The Commissioner for Human Rights challenged the above resolution to the Rzeszów Voivodship Administrative Court , alleging violation of certain provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, the European Convention on Human Rights, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Act on Municipal Self-Government. Amongst the allegations indicated were:

    - exceeding the scope of action of the commune and the competence of the commune council and interfering with the competences of other public authorities;

    - limitation of constitutional rights and freedoms in an act of a rank lower than the law;

    - discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity by excluding from the local community its residents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender;

    - unjustified interference with the freedoms and rights of LGBT persons, in that it violates their dignity and restricts their right to private life and freedom of expression;

    - restricting freedom of movement and residence within the territory of the Member States by unjustifiably discouraging EU citizens who identify as LGBT from residing in the commune.

    The Ombudsman requested that the above resolution be annulled in its entirety. 

    Key legal question raised by the Court:

    The main focus of the Court's consideration was to assess the legality of the substantive layer of the challenged resolution in the light of the models of control relied on by the applicant. 

    Outcome of the case: 

    With regard to the substantive layer of legal control of the resolution challenged by the Commissioner for Human Rights, the Voivodship Administrative Court in Rzeszów found that it was affected by significant legal defects for the following reasons:

    1) it was adopted without a legal basis;

    2) it exceeded the scope of the tasks of the municipality and the competence of the municipal council;

    3) it unlawfully interferes with the rights and freedoms of individuals;

    4) has a discriminatory character, as it:

    (a) excludes from the municipal community a generally designated group of persons defined as LGBT; and

    (b) violates the dignity, the right to private life and freedom of expression, on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity;

    5) restricts the rights of parents to raise their children in accordance with their own beliefs, the right to education and the right to teach. 

    Consequently, the Rzeszów Voivodship Administrative Court annulled the contested resolution in its entirety. The judgement is final. 

  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter

    At the level of international law, sexual orientation is explicitly mentioned in the catalogue of protected characteristics in Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights leaves no doubt that it is also covered by the open catalogue provided for in Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (see, inter alia, the judgments in Kozak v. Poland, application no. 13102/02; Bayev and Others v. Russia, application nos. 67667/09, 44092/12 and 56717/12). 

    As established above, the reservation made in the resolution that the municipality is a zone free of ‘LGBT ideology’ cannot be detached from people from this group. For these reasons, the appealed resolution violates Article 32 of the Constitution, as well as Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, according to which the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set out in this Convention should be secured without discrimination based on any grounds such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, membership of a national minority, property, birth or any other ground. It also constitutes an infringement of Article 21(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which states that any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited. 

  • Paragraphs referring to EU Charter (original language)

    „Na poziomie prawa międzynarodowego orientacja seksualna została wskazana wprost w katalogu cech chronionych w art. 21 Karty Praw Podstawowych Unii Europejskiej, a orzecznictwo Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka nie pozostawia wątpliwości, że obejmuje ją także otwarty katalog przewidziany art. 14 Europejskiej Konwencji Praw Człowieka (zob. m.in. wyroki w sprawach Kozak p. Polsce, skarga nr 13102/02; Bayev i inni p. Rosji, skargi nr 67667/09, 44092/12 i 56717/12).” 

    „Jak wyżej ustalono, uczynionego w uchwale zastrzeżenia, że gmina jest strefą wolną od "ideologii LGBT" nie sposób oderwać od osób z tej grupy. Z tych względów zaskarżona uchwała narusza tak art. 32 Konstytucji, jak również art. 14 Europejskiej Konwencji Praw Człowieka, według którego korzystanie z praw i wolności wymienionych w niniejszej konwencji powinno być zapewnione bez dyskryminacji wynikającej z takich powodów, jak płeć, rasa, kolor skóry, język, religia, przekonania polityczne i inne, pochodzenie narodowe lub społeczne, przynależność do mniejszości narodowej, majątek, urodzenie bądź z jakichkolwiek innych przyczyn. Stanowi także naruszenie art. 21 ust. 1 Karty Praw Podstawowych Unii Europejskiej, według którego zakazana jest wszelka dyskryminacja w szczególności ze względu na płeć, rasę, kolor skóry, pochodzenie etniczne lub społeczne, cechy genetyczne, język, religię lub przekonania, poglądy polityczne lub wszelkie inne poglądy, przynależność do mniejszości narodowej, majątek, urodzenie, niepełnosprawność, wiek lub orientację seksualną.”