Recognition of same-sex unions in Estonia

In December 2005, the launch of a new family law bill by the Estonian Ministry of Justice, explicitly defining marriage to be a union of a man and a woman, initiated a public debate on the issue of recognition of same-sex unions. The public debate was called by the Ministry of Social Affairs, which expressed reservations about the draft law.

The public debate attracted a significant response from LGBT rights groups, who opposed the family law bill and urged the Estonian Government not to discriminate between same-sex and opposite-sex couples in marriage, stating that, "We call on the government to drop a clause in the draft law on the family, which does not allow the registration of same-sex marriages or partnerships". On January 4, 2006, five Estonian NGOs supporting LGBT rights issued a press release calling for a new partnership law to give same-sex couples equal rights with opposite-sex couples.[8]

On the other hand, a number of conservative politicians claimed that Estonia was not yet ready for same-sex marriage, and that there was no need to create a separate law on same-sex unions since existing laws already implied the protection of some of these unions, despite not mentioning same-sex unions explicitly. Väino Linde, the chief of the Constitution Commission of the Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament), stated that he was "glad to see the conservative views in the Parliament and in the Commission of Constitution".[9]

As of 2005, the Social Democratic Party was the only political party to publicly affirm its support for same-sex marriage. The Centre Party and the Reform Party said that they would tolerate such a law. Various right-wing parties, particularly the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union, stated their opposition to same-sex marriage.[9]

In July 2008, the Ministry of Justice announced that it was drafting a law on registered partnerships for same-sex couples. The law, initially expected to come into force in 2009, was intended to provide a number of rights for same-sex couples, such as inheritance and shared property ownership. The law had the support of most parties in the Riigikogu.[10][11]

The Ministry of Justice studied proposals for the registration of unmarried couples, including same-sex couples. A comprehensive report was released in July 2009 examining three options: the recognition of unregistered cohabitation; the creation of a partnership registry; and the extension of marriage to same-sex couples. It left the decision over which model to implement to the Riigikogu and other "stakeholders".[12][13] On July 1, 2010, a new family law was passed, defining marriage as between a man and a woman and declaring unions between members of the same sex "null and void". Prime Minister Andrus Ansip was quoted as saying, "I do not believe that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will soon accept same-sex marriage in the eyes of the law".[14]

On May 25, 2011, Chancellor of Justice Indrek Teder requested that the Ministry of Justice introduce a civil partnership law.[15] He ruled that the non-recognition of same-sex relationships was contrary to the Constitution of Estonia. Thereafter, partnership recognition again became an active political discussion in Estonia.

The Reform Party and the Social Democratic Party supported introducing a partnership law, against the opposition of the conservative Pro Patria and Res Publica Union. The Centre Party supported a discussion on the issue.[16] The bill was drafted in August 2012 by the Minister of Justice and was under consultation until October 1, 2012.[17][18][19] In March 2014, a parliamentary group began to examine the draft bill.[20] The legislation, entitled the Registered Partnership Act (Estonian: Kooseluseadus), was submitted to Parliament on April 17, 2014.[21][22][23][24] On May 22, the bill was backed by the Rõivas Government.[25] On June 19, 2014, Parliament rejected a motion to kill the bill at its first reading, in a 32-45 vote.[26] The second reading took place on October 8, where a motion to hold a referendum on the bill was defeated in a 35-42 vote and another motion to kill it was defeated in a 41-33 vote.[27] The bill passed its final vote on October 9 in a 40-38 vote. It was signed into law by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves the same day and took effect on January 1, 2016.[28][29]

As of 2020, some implementing acts required for the law to enter into force have yet to be passed, requiring the support of a majority of MPs. The conservative Pro Patria and Res Publica Union (IRL), which joined the Rõivas Government after the March 2015 elections, said that these acts should be passed in Parliament rather than by the cabinet, creating a dispute with the Reform Party and the Social Democrats.[30] On November 25, 2015, Parliament rejected a motion to kill the implementing bill at its first reading, in a 41-42 vote.[31] On December 10, the chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee announced that the committee would not finish work on the bill and asked Parliament to begin the second reading before December 17, before it adjourned on January 11. This meant that the Registered Partnership Act would take effect without implementing measures, causing a number of legal loopholes and problems.[32][33] Further readings were scheduled for the end of January 2016.[34]

Because the Riigikogu has yet to adopt the implementation acts, same-sex couples in Estonia have been in legal limbo, and have increasingly turned to the courts in order to have their rights recognised. Numerous partnerships have been performed in Estonia, but these couples were initially not registered in the population registry.[35] In August 2016, a same-sex couple filed a complaint with the Tallinn Administrative Court.[36] On April 10, 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that the law is in effect and should be enforced, despite the lack of the implementing measures.[37]

In January 2017, the Chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee of Parliament, Jaanus Karilaid (Centre Party), said that the implementing acts for the registered partnership law were unlikely to be adopted in the current term of Parliament, as passing these laws "would only result in new confrontations". At the same time, Karilaid suggested that Parliament did not have the numbers to repeal the underlying partnership law.[38] Prime Minister Jüri Ratas echoed his suggestion, saying that the law would not be repealed by neither the current nor the subsequent Riigikogu.[39] One month later, responding to a complaint filed in August 2016 (see above), the Tallinn Administrative Court ordered the Estonian Government to pay monetary damages for failing to adopt the implementing acts. The state later appealed the ruling.[40] In September 2017, President Kersti Kaljulaid criticised the Parliament for failing to accept the implementing acts.[41]

In February 2017, the Tallinn Administrative Court ruled that the Interior Ministry had to correctly register the stepchild adoption of an Estonian same-sex couple, as mandated by the Registered Partnership Act. The Ministry stated that it had no plans to appeal.[42] In January 2018, the Tartu Circuit Court ruled that a lesbian couple in a registered partnership may adopt. The court overturned a lower court's ruling which had rejected the couple's adoption application.[43]

During the public debate about the bill, a number of public figures came out as gay, including choreographer Jüri Nael,[44] actor Risto Kübar,[45] fashion designer Aldo Järvsoo,[46] and singer Lauri Liiv.[47]

29 same-sex partnerships had been performed by August 2016.[36] By October 2017, 59 cohabitation agreements had been entered into.[48]

In February 2016, several politicians (mostly from the Estonian Free Party) introduced the Same-Sex Partnership Bill, aimed at repealing the Registered Partnership Act and creating a separate law for same-sex couples. Andres Herkel, who spoke on behalf of the Free Party, justified the need for the bill and criticised the partnership act, arguing it had brought legal confusion to include same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples in the same law: "The including of the regulation concerning different-sex couples and same-sex couples in one Act is the basis of very many conceptual confusion." The bill was opposed by the Conservative People's Party, the Reform Party and the Social Democrats, and ultimately failed 14-55 in Parliament.[49]

In October 2017, the Riigikogu voted against a bill[lower-alpha 1] which sought to repeal the Registered Partnership Act.[50] The repeal bill, supported by the Conservative People's Party and the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union, was rejected by a vote of 19-47 at the first reading on 17 October. The Social Democrats, the Reform Party and the two independents opposed the bill, arguing it would "take rights away". The Centre Party was split with some voting against the bill and others abstaining, whilst the Free Party mostly abstained.[51] Lawmakers supporting the bill claimed that the Registered Partnership Act had brought division within Estonian society.

a. Both MPs were formerly members of the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union.

On 13 January 2021, a draft resolution to call a referendum on the definition of marriage was defeated by 26 to 49 at second reading. This followed the resignation of the prime minister Jüri Ratas on 12 January 2021, followed two days later by the rest of the government.

a. Originally a member of the Estonian Centre Party, Raimond Kaljulaid left the party in April 2019 over the decision to include the EKRE into the government coalition. On 7 November 2019, Kaljulaid announced the decision to join the SDE, although by law, he cannot officially join the SDE parliamentary group.[70]