The right to marry and found a family belongs to the catalog of civil and political rights, and is therefore confirmed in many documents of international rank. This issue is also regulated by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which states in Article 12 that „married men and women have the right to marry and to found a family in accordance with national laws governing the exercise of this right.” The right to marry has been recognized as the fundamental right of every human being. On the other hand, the state of deprivation of liberty does not constitute a negative condition for exercising this right. The Court’s extensive case law in this regard has maintained the view that an imprisoned person retains all his rights, of course except the right to liberty. Therefore, there is no obstacle to the possibility of marriage in the area of the penitentiary. This article analyzes the regulation contained in Art. 12 conventions based on the selected ECHR case law and issues related to Polish law as well as the practice of marrying in prison.