The ministry said in a draft conclusion that the principle of "mutual complementarity of motherhood and fatherhood," proposed by the amendments, is redundant as the principles of legal regulation of family relations are already entrenched in the Constitution and the Civil Code.
At the moment, Lithuania has not legalized either same-sex partnerships or same-sex marriage.
According to the draft conclusion, the proposed provision that "every child has the natural right to a mother and a father" is not used neither in international nor national law. It is also emphasized that, based on existing legislation, a child has the right to know his/her parents and communicate with them and has also the right to family relations with both parents, even when they don't live with the child.
The Seimas of Lithuania has already given its initial backing to amendments to the Civil Code and the Law on Fundamentals of Protection of the Rights of the Child, stating that "every child has the natural right to a mother and a father, arising from gender differences and the mutual complementarity of motherhood and fatherhood."
The proposed amendments will got to parliamentary committees for further consideration.
