Passage of legislation in 2006 There had been several attempts to allow same-sex
registered partnerships in the Czech Republic. In 1998, a partnership bill reached the
Chamber of Deputies, but was defeated by two votes. In 1999, the chamber voted against another bill. In February 2001, the
Zeman Cabinet presented a third bill, which was rejected by
Parliament in October 2001. On 11 February 2005, another bill was defeated by one vote. It was backed by 82 out of the 165 deputies present, most voting in favour being
Social Democrats,
Communists,
Freedom Union members and some deputies from the opposition
Civic Democratic Party (ODS). In April 2005, a partnership bill passed its
first reading in the Chamber with 82 votes for and 9 against. On 16 December 2005, it passed its third reading with 86 votes for, 54 against, and 7 abstentions. The legislation established registered partnerships (, ) for same-sex couples, providing several of the rights of
marriage, including
inheritance, the right to declare a same-sex partner as
next of kin, hospital visitation rights, jail and prison visitation rights,
spousal privilege and
alimony rights, but not allowing joint
adoption rights,
widow's pension or joint property rights. The legislation was passed by the
Senate on 26 January 2006 in a 65–14 vote. On 16 February 2006,
President Václav Klaus vetoed the bill. In response,
Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek said that he would seek a parliamentary majority (101 votes) in the lower chamber to override the
veto, and did so successfully on 15 March 2006 with the exact number of votes needed. In September 2014, a group of deputies introduced a bill to permit a person to adopt the stepchildren of their registered partner (i.e.
stepchild adoption). In October 2014, the
Sobotka Cabinet decided not to take an official stance on the bill. Instead, on 24 October 2016, it approved its own draft bill on the issue, and introduced it to Parliament on 8 November. The bills were not brought to a vote before the
2017 parliamentary election. There were a number of differences between registered partnerships and marriages. Registered partners did not have the same rights to shared property as married couples, did not receive the same
tax benefits, and did not have the right to a widow or widower's pension or adoption rights. These rights (except for joint adoption) were extended to registered partners in 2025. Another major distinction was that registered partnerships could only be performed in the 14
regional capitals, whereas marriages can be performed in over 1,200 registry offices throughout the country. This was noted in a July 2016 report by the ombudsman office, which also stated that a dying person in a hospital could not enter into a partnership because of these restrictions. A law which took effect on 1 January 2024 changed this requirement, allowing registered partnerships to be concluded at all registry offices in the country.
Expansion of rights in 2025 In 2022, a group of lawmakers introduced a same-sex marriage bill to the Chamber of Deputies. In November 2023, the Chamber's Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee failed to reach an agreement on whether to approve the bill as introduced or amended versions which would not legalize same-sex marriage but instead provide partnerships equal to marriage in all but name. On 28 February, the Chamber passed an amendment expanding the rights of registered partnerships (including the right to stepchild adoption) by a 118 to 33 vote without voting on the initial version of the same-sex marriage bill. The amended draft law was approved in its entirety by the Chamber by a vote of 123 to 36 that same day. It was approved by the Senate on 17 April 2024 despite attempts by some lawmakers to amend the bill to permit same-sex marriages. The legislation would expand the right of registered partners to shared property, full tax benefits, the right to a widow or widower's pension, and stepchild adoption. It was signed by President
Petr Pavel on 29 April, and went into force on 1 January 2025.
Statistics , August 2006 By June 2009, 780 registered partnerships had been conducted in the Czech Republic. By the end of 2010, that number had increased to 1,110, of which 66 had been dissolved. A large majority of these partnerships involved two Czech citizens, though there were also several couples with at least one partner from the
United States,
Slovakia or the
United Kingdom. Most partnerships were performed in
Prague followed by
Central Bohemia and
South Moravia, while
Zlín and
Vysočina registered the fewest partnerships. The number of registered partnerships differs between data collected from parish registers and data from the
Ministry of the Interior. Data collected from parish registers shows that 4,283 partnerships were performed between 2006 and 2021: 235 in 2006, 258 in 2007, 233 in 2008, 209 in 2009, 205 in 2010, 188 in 2011, 209 in 2012, 212 in 2013, 242 in 2014, 254 on 2015, 363 in 2016, 334 in 2017, 342 in 2018, 360 in 2019, 324 in 2020, and 315 in 2021. 6.4% of these partnerships were performed in Czech
embassies or consulates abroad. By the end of 2019, about a quarter of these partnerships had been dissolved, lower than the divorce rate of opposite-sex partners at around 50%. Male couples account for the majority of partnerships. ==Same-sex marriage==