Abstract

In 2013, the lower chamber of the Polish parliament rejected in the first reading five bills concerning broadly conceived regulation of partnerships. In Poland, the Constitution, like the acts of international law, defines marriage as a union of a man and a woman. However, there is no legal definition of a family, which constitutes a significant defect of the legal order, especially in view of common use of this term in everyday life. The discussed term is at present firmly rooted in legal and intellectual tradition of this part of the world. It comprises of people bound by the ties of marriage or blood, and relatives include not only immediate ascendants and descendants.