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Reply to Written question | Doc. 13450 | 24 March 2014
Prohibition of same sex marriage in Croatia
1. In reply to the Honourable Parliamentarian’s
question, the Committee of Ministers recalls that the European Court
of Human Rights, through its judgments in individual cases, assesses
the compliance of national legislation with the European Convention
on Human Rights. The Committee of Ministers cannot substitute the
Court in this respect.
2. In this context, the Committee of Ministers observes that
in its judgment in the case of Schalk and Kopf v. Austria of 24
June 2010, the Court has stated that it “would no longer consider
that the right to marry enshrined in Article 12 must in all circumstances
be limited to marriage between two persons of the opposite sex”.
It further held that “as matters stand, the question whether or
not to allow same-sex marriage is left to regulation by the national
law of the Contracting State”. In this respect, the Court observed
that “marriage has deep-rooted social and cultural connotations
which may differ largely from one society to another”. It concluded that
Article 12 of the Convention does not impose an obligation on the
respondent government to grant a same-sex couple access to marriage.
3. The Committee of Ministers has been informed by the Croatian
authorities that following the results of the referendum of 1 December
2013, the Croatian Constitution contains a provision that defines
marriage as the “union between a woman and a man”. The definition
of marriage contained in the Croatian legislation has consequently
become a constitutional norm. However, the constitutional changes
do not provide for any explicit “prohibition of same-sex marriage”,
as implied in the question posed by the distinguished member of
the Parliamentary Assembly.
4. The Committee of Ministers has also been informed by the Croatian
authorities that all rights and legal aspects of cohabitation, as
well as same-sex union, will continue to be regulated by the legislation
in force. In order to further strengthen the right to private and
family life of same-sex couples, the Croatian Government, on 13
December 2013, proposed a new draft Law on Registered Civil Partnership
to Parliament. This draft Law reflects a commitment to regulate
same-sex unions comprehensively and to remove the existing obstacles
to their social equality, based on the best European standards and
practices. The purpose of the new draft Law on Registered Civil
Partnership is to provide same sex-unions with the same statutory
rights as those provided for married couples, including the right
to inherit and rights and obligations deriving from pension and
medical insurance schemes, etc.