Announcements that the law allowing same-sex couples to officially register their union could be adopted in October, remained only promises, and the proposed text, which not only has not yet found its way into the Parliament, has not been decided upon by the Government either.
The Ministry of Human and Minority Rights (MLJMP) told "Vijesta" that the proposal could be on the agenda of the session - at the beginning of this month.
The Law on Life Partnership of Persons of the Same Sex was established at the Government session at the end of last year. After the vote was postponed several times during the spring, the deputies finally expressed their opinion on the law at the session on the last day of July. The proposed solution did not receive a majority in the Assembly at the time - 38 voted for the adoption of a law that would formally enable same-sex couples in Montenegro to enjoy the same rights as men and women living in a married or cohabiting union, and four members of the ruling coalition were against.
As for the part of the opposition, the Democratic Front clearly does not support the law from the beginning, and the members of the opposition who are declaratively "for" - members of the Social Democratic Party and some of the independents, including Neđeljko Rudović, were not in the Assembly at the time of the vote.
After the law did not pass, they said that it will certainly be adopted in the fall - in October. Among those who are boycotting the Assembly, Dritan Abazović, deputy of the Civic Movement URA, is "for", while the Democrats are silent on this issue.
The new Bill, however, has not yet passed the Government. The proposal was briefly on the agenda of the session on September 26, but, as "Vijesti" reported, "the Government postponed the decision." The department of Mehmed Zenka (MLJMP) assures the public that the Government is determined to resubmit the text to the Assembly for consideration and adoption as soon as possible, "in order to create legal prerequisites for the enjoyment of civil rights on an equal basis for persons of different sexual orientation".
"Although I do not have the authority to create the agenda of the Government sessions, I am convinced that the Bill on same-sex life partnerships will be one of the priorities already in early December," Blanka Radošević Marović, director of the Directorate for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, told "Vijesta" and freedom.
Bojana Jokić, executive director of the LGBT Forum Progress, reminds of the importance of that law and calls on the Government and the Assembly to vote on the law by the end of the year.
"The importance of this law for the LGBTIQ community is immeasurable, and the fact that we have been blocked for months now sends a negative message to the community itself about the Government's frivolous approach in fulfilling its obligations to the citizens of this country, as well as the comprehensive implementation of the policy that, let's remember, the same Government adopted... I appeal to the Government and the Assembly to fulfill their duties and promises," she said.
If the law is not brought before the deputies "within a reasonable period of time", Jokić added, "the overall work of the working group that created the law will be meaningless, and the discrimination against same-sex partners in Montenegro will be unnecessarily extended".
Radošević Marović assures that it is in everyone's interest that the law be adopted as soon as possible. He says that the Government is in constant communication with NGOs that deal with LGBTI issues and that participated in the creation of the Draft Law, and that this communication is a partnership.
"Because we have a common interest, which is the adoption of this law as soon as possible, which will make life significantly easier for people of the same sex in their communities," said Radošević Marović.
The draft law on same-sex life partnerships should allow same-sex couples to enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples, but without the possibility of adopting children. The law specifically regulates support between partners, guardianship, and the property relations of partners are also regulated in detail.
When the law is adopted, the partners would have the right to mutual inheritance, and their tax status is also regulated. Community of life implies joint and separate property, the disposal of that property, the right to inherit the pension and property of the deceased partner.
In terms of rights and obligations, in the health insurance and protection system, partners are equal to the rights of all other insured persons, as well as in terms of social and child protection rights.
Parenting, guardianship, fostering and adoption of children are not possible, and child support is possible only if the other partner is not alive or there are no living relatives who could take over the support.
The government did not accept a shorter deadline for the start of implementation
Once the Law on Same-Sex Unions is adopted, as foreseen in the Proposal, a year will pass before its implementation. Radošević Marović said that in the meantime, in the communication between the Government and non-governmental organizations, it was considered to shorten the time of application of the law from one year to six months, but - without success.
"Government departments that are most affected by this provision and are in charge of drafting by-laws and harmonizing other regulations, did not agree with the shortening of the law's application deadline," she told "Vijesti".
Same-sex communities in Europe
European law did not recognize same-sex unions until the end of the 1980s, but that has changed and today the marriage of same-sex couples is made possible in an increasing number of countries, according to the work of the Parliamentary Institute of the Montenegrin Assembly from 2018. The work describes the systems of several countries, among which the Netherlands, Ireland and Spain, which guarantee same-sex couples the equal right to marry, and even adopt children, which the constitutions of those countries allow.
The Netherlands was the first country in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry in 2001. Since then, more than 15.000 same-sex marriages have taken place in the Netherlands. twice as many were concluded in Spain, which made same-sex marriages possible in 2005. Croatia and Slovenia do not recognize the equal right to marry, but allow the registration of partnerships, which is also implied by the Montenegrin Bill. Croatia adopted such a law in 2014, and Slovenia two years later.
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