Supreme Court of the Netherlands · 12 July 2024 · ECLI:NL:HR:2024:977
Couples in Aruba could enter a registered partnership, yet civil marriage remained closed to same-sex partners. The case reached the Dutch Supreme Court in its role as the final court for Aruba. The key question was whether judges could give an effective remedy under Aruba’s own constitutional equality guarantee.
What the appeal court had done
The Joint Court of Justice held that excluding couples from civil marriage was unjustified discrimination. It set aside the restriction so same-sex couples could marry once its decision became final. Aruba challenged the court’s power to provide that remedy itself.
What couples actually gained
The Supreme Court left the decision in place. Couples could therefore marry in Aruba under the existing civil marriage framework, without waiting for legislation. A companion ruling on the same date reached the corresponding result for Curaçao.
Which jurisdiction changed
This was a ruling about Aruba, a Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Readers should distinguish the forum that heard the final appeal from the place where the ruling opened civil marriage.
Read the Supreme Court’s account of the Aruba and Curaçao judgments
