Unlike the institution of matrimonial law, which has developed over several hundred years and thus has a solid legal basis, the legal framework for non-registered partnerships is a relatively recent legal phenomenon, which therefore also means that the legal framework in those countries where it is applied is not uniform and there are significant differences between different legal systems. The legal framework of non-registered partnerships is influenced by the traditions, history, culture, religion, and other factors of the country and its population. With the development of non-registered partnerships, new challenges are emerging in various fields, including healthcare in terms of ensuring patients’ rights. This results in a situation where there is a lack of regulation in society to protect all families, regardless of whether the family is based on a registered or non-registered partnership. The purpose of the article is to clarify the role, and importance, as well as crucial problematics of non-registered partnerships from the patients’ point of view. The methodological basis of the research includes general theoretical principles of scientific knowledge. This knowledge provides various aspects in the study of non-registered partnerships and the patients’ rights in healthcare. The scientific novelty is to identify the essence and importance of the fundamental rights of each person and to clarify the legal problematics of the non-registered partnership institution that influence patients’ rights in the decision-making process.

There are partners in every country who have chosen a long-term cohabitation oppose to a marriage, although they have no legal or any other barriers to get married. It is up to each country to decide whether to recognise and regulate such relationships or not. The Republic of Latvia is facing a similar choice. Latvia, like other countries, is trying to formulate the necessity and proportionality of such a regulation, as well as its topicality. In Latvia, law scientists, students, lawyers and researchers have conducted a number of studies on civil partnerships to determine the need. At the centre of the Latvian family policy is a traditional family model based on marriage, assuming that this ideal family model is the only desired one. Other forms of family, where a child is formally raised by one of the parents, are viewed as a traditional family in a crisis situation, rather than a respectable form of the family (Putniņa, Zīverte, 2008). The Maintenance Guarantee Fund emphasizes the increasing number of applications for material assistance from parents of children born outside the marriage or in civil partnerships, also of children left without paternity, which leads to a large number of these ‘other’ families being left outside the family boundaries set by the state aid policy. In the author’s opinion, such situation is unacceptable in a democratic country, and it is a gross violation of children’s rights to material aid, which can have a significant impact on the future development of children.

There is a continuous debate in the public space on the need for a legal framework for the partnership institute to ensure equal legal security for the family, regardless of the existence or non-existence of the legal fact of its foundation. The fundamental aspects of the debate include the insufficient regulatory framework and vulnerability of partners before the law, divergent national views on partnerships as a union between opposite-sex partners, religious beliefs condemning non-marital relationships, including the existing property issues in the context of partnerships. According to the Author of the Paper, the existing partnerships in Latvia are discriminated in favour for the marriage due to the moral views and legal aspects, as the individual living in the partnership is restricted in terms of access to information and is vulnerable in terms of property rights. For example, when an individual lives in the partnership, he or she is denied the right to be informed about the health status of the other partner and the existing liabilities in credit institutions. In cohabitation, the individual is not recognised as a member of the family of the tenant for the purpose of the Law on Residential Tenancy and the potential consequences of the partnership may be the denied right to inheritance or tenancy.Main methods used: sociological method for analysing the compliance of laws and regulations with public interests and aims.

Partnership Institute – issues and improvement of legal framework in the Republic of Latvia Both free movement of people and easier people-to-people contacts (the liberalisation of relationships) have put the rights to respect for private life, home and correspondence, including ‘family life’, on the agenda. Today’s social reality calls for the revision of family law and the solution of property matters according to society’s needs. These issues are relevant not only for Latvia but also for other countries that have not yet introduced a legal framework dealing with cohabitation, with the result that an unmarried relationship between two persons starting a family in one way or another is not recognised by law. The legalisation of same-sex cohabitation by means of national law is even more controversial. There is still a broad debate observed in the public domain regarding the necessity of a special cohabitation legislation to ensure equal legal security for families, irrespective of whether or not they are registered from the legal point of view. The objective of the doctoral thesis – to identify issues concerning the scope of a family in the context of cohabitation by analysing the doctrine of the institution of cohabitation and foreign legislation and formulate recommendations for improvement of cohabitation laws in Latvia’s legal system. The doctoral thesis analyses both the existing legislation and case law and studies available in Latvia to pinpoint the main legal problems faced by cohabiting couples and suggest potential solutions. In Latvia, there are people who prefer cohabitation for various reasons, thereby starting a family that is not based on the institution of marriage. As already mentioned, marriage between a man and a woman is the only way of living together recognised by law in the Republic of Latvia. Nevertheless, many have started a family without registering their relationship officially according to part one “Family Law” of the Civil Law. Therefore, such a union between people is regarded as controversial with respect to the institution of family according to law. This means that unregistered cohabitation is increasingly prevalent in society, leading to certain inconsistency in a number of fields of law, such as inheritance, the rights of patients and their protection, people’s social rights, the right of information, procedure law, etc. This is important in situations when unregistered family ties disintegrate, there are disputes over cohabiting partners’ property division, fulfilment of obligations, subsequent care for the partners’ children, etc. Legislative amendments suggested by the author would provide a more equal legal treatment of cohabiting and married couples. Introducing cohabitation rules would ensure a uniform framework in the field of family law, which would solve current issues arising due to the lack of legislation or interpretation and, accordingly, inconsistent case law, and provide a legal basis for situations that are not yet dealt with by law.

Personu brīvā kustība un savstarpējās saskarsmes vienkāršotā izplatība (attiecību liberalizācija) aktualizē jautājumu par tiesībām uz privātās dzīves, mājokļa un korespondences, tostarp “ģimenes dzīves”, neaizskaramību. Mūsdienu sociālā realitāte pieprasa ģimenes tiesību jauninājumus, kā arī mantisko jautājumu risinājumu atbilstoši sabiedrības vajadzībām. Šie jautājumi skar ne tikai Latviju, bet arī citas valstis, kur līdz šim nav partnerattiecību tiesiskā regulējuma, tādējādi juridiski paliek neatzīta divu personu ārpus laulības savienība, kas tādā vai citādā veidā dibina ģimeni. Vēl diskutablāks ir jautājums par viena dzimuma partnerattiecību legalizēšanu nacionālajās tiesību normās. Publiskajā telpā arvien vērojamas plašas diskusijas par partnerattiecību tiesiskā regulējuma nepieciešamību, lai nodrošinātu vienlīdzīgu tiesisko drošību ģimenei neatkarīgi no tās dibināšanas juridiskā fakta esamības vai neesamības. Promocijas darba mērķis – partnerattiecību institūta doktrīnas un ārvalstu tiesiskā regulējuma analīzes rezultātā konstatēt ģimenes saturiskā tvēruma problēmas partnerattiecību kontekstā un izvirzīt priekšlikumus partnerattiecību tiesiskā regulējuma pilnveidei Latvijas tiesību sistēmā. Promocijas darbā tiek analizēta ne tikai normatīvie akti un tiesu prakse, bet arī Latvijā pieejamie pētījumi, identificējot galvenās partnerattiecībās dzīvojošo pāru tiesiskās problēmas un piedāvājot to risinājuma iespējas. Latvijā ir personas, kas dažādu iemeslu dēļ veido partnerattiecības, radot tādas ģimenes, kas nav veidotas uz laulības institūta pamata. Laulība starp vīrieti un sievieti, kā jau minēts, ir vienīgā un juridiski atzītā kopdzīves forma Latvijas Republikā. Tomēr daudzi ir izveidojuši ģimenes, bet juridiski šīs attiecības nav reģistrējuši tā, kā to nosaka Civillikuma Pirmā daļa – Ģimenes tiesības. Tāpēc šāda personu savienība tiek uzskatīta par kontroversiālu savienību attiecībā pret juridiski noteikto ģimenes institūtu. Tas nozīmē, ka juridiski nenostiprinātas partnerattiecības prevalē arvien lielākā sabiedrības daļā, kas rada nekonsekvenci vairākās tiesību jomās, piemēram, mantojuma tiesībās, pacientu tiesībās, sociālajās tiesībās, tiesībās uz informāciju, procesuālo tiesību normās u. c. Būtisks aspekts ir situācijās, kad šīs oficiāli neapstiprinātās faktiskās ģimeniskās saites sairst, rodas domstarpības par kopīgas mantas sadali, uzņemto saistību izpildi, kā arī kopīgo bērnu turpmāko aprūpi u.tml. Autores piedāvātie normatīvo aktu grozījumi radītu vienlīdzīgāku regulējumu starp partnerattiecībās esošajām personām un laulībā dzīvojošiem pāriem. Ieviešot partnerattiecību tiesisko regulējumu, tiktu nodrošināts vienots normatīvo aktu regulējums ģimenes tiesību jomā, kas atrisinātu tos problēmjautājumus, ko pašreiz praksē rada normatīvo aktu trūkums vai interpretēšanas problēmas un līdz ar to neviennozīmīgu tiesu praksi, kā arī izveidotu tiesisko regulējumu situācijām, kas šobrīd nav regulētas.