Strategic litigation and the problem of recognition in the area of the rights of children of same-sex couples to obtain an identity document and PESEL number

Abstract

The goal of the research is to assess the jurisdiction of the Supreme Administrative Court (hereinafter: the SAC) in the field of permissibility of transcription of birth certificates of same-sex couples. The work contains an analysis of the position of the SAC and individual public administration bodies in terms of de lege lata legal solutions and examines the effects of judgments on administrative practice. The institution of strategic litigation is presented as a way to change the law or judicial practice from below for the proper implementation of human rights protection standards in a country, where those problems are overlooked by the legislature. Moreover, the paper discusses judgments taking into account the non-legal context and presents the social background of the discussed decisions. Finally, various solutions concerning the transcription of foreign birth certificates proposed by the jurisprudence and doctrines are assessed in terms of the actual protection of human rights. The text proves that strategic litigation, although an instrument extremely helpful in publicizing the problem, cannot do much when the political environment remains critical of the proposed changes.