The Court made this ruling while deliberating over a law (no. 3719/2008) called “Reforms concerning the family, children and society”, which came into force in Greece on November 26, 2008. The Greek law made provision for an official form of partnership called a “civil union”.
This exclusion led to a number of applicants lodging a complaint against the Greek state claiming that the law discriminated against them. Following the lodging of the applications, a hearing was held on January 16, 2013. As a consequence, the Court reiterated that same-sex couples were just as capable as different-sex couples of entering into stable committed relationships. It therefore considered the applicants were in a comparable situation to different-sex couples with regards to their need for legal recognition and protection of their relationships.
The Court stated that the Greek state had to take into account developments in society and the fact that there was not just one way or one choice when it came to leading one’s family or private life and it was therefore necessary to no longer bar same-sex couples from entering into civil unions.
