Is marriage allowed among same-gender people in Kosovo?

So, actually, if two persons of the same gender want to get married, which is guaranteed by the Constitution of Kosovo, they cannot do it.

If we refer to the ombudsman's reports, resolving a case until the final decision takes up to eight years.

Blert Morina belongs to the international community. It is also director of the organisation “Centre for Equality and Freedom for Community (homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgirial), LGBT”.

He told Radio Free Europe that if two persons of the same gender want to marry, they must sacrifice eight years of their lives to realise an elementary right guaranteed to them with the Constitution of Kosovo.

We've raised this concern even earlier than we've had the old Civil Code, where we said our institutions should be careful by treating all communities equally and taking care when law updates are made in order to be in harmony and in the spirit of Constitution”.

So far what we've observed in the new Civil Code has not changed anything in the Law of Marriage, and it conflicts with the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, so it's not in the same spirit, where in this case Kosovo enjoys a very advanced Constitution and allows marriage between the same gender, but that the Civil Code, specifically, the Law on the Family prohibits that kind of thing<1>.

So in Kosovo it is impossible to marry two same-gender people, since we don't have legislation in the country, to do so we have to have this legislation. If someone wants to do so with current legislation, that law must be challenged”, Morina said.

The National Democratic Institute has long ago made public a report that only 3 percent of respondents have responded that they would accept the child as a member of the LGBT community, until 97 percent said they would not allow members of this community to live at home.

On the other hand, the ombudsman's office, through a written response sent to Radio Free Europe, has said that in the absence of a legitimate goal for the exclusion of persons of the same gender, the draft code represents violations of constitutional law.

Therefore, the Ombudsman has recommended that the Ministry of Justice reconsider the non-recognition of same-gender marriage during the review phase of the draft code.

The people's <x0th) Avocacy points out that guaranteed rights and freedoms with the Constitution can be limited by law, but Article 55, paragraph 4 of the Constitution sets the five criteria for a proportional assessment of a human right”.

For more, the ombudsman notes, it is not clear anywhere in the draft-cod which legitimate purpose would serve non-recognition of same-gender marriage. Also, it is not clear whether draft coders have taken into account five criteria when they decided to deprive couples of the same gender from legal recognition of marriage rights”, the statement issued by the Ombudsman's office says.

On the other hand, Rina Kika, a lawyer, explains that according to Article 37 of the Kosovo Constitution, the right to marriage is guaranteed for everyone, and does not specify gender. In addition, the Constitution contains some additional protections of human rights, which are seen in Article 22 of the Constitution containing 8 international conventions, among other things, the European Convention on Human Rights that protects all citizens.

The Ministry of Justice has not implemented the drafting of the Civil Code draft practice of the European Court for Human Rights, excluding persons of the same gender from the right to marriage, and therefore the family”.

This minister has failed to interpret and include the rights and freedoms belonging to citizens who have a different sexual orientation, while also making a code that is discriminated against persons based on sexual orientation. This is directly contrary to Article 24 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, which guarantees equality before the law and the right of persons with other sexual orientation, to be free from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation”, Kika said.

In the Government of Kosovo, exactly at the Office for Good Governance in the Office of the Prime Minister, the position has been reiterated that although Kosovo has noted progress in respecting the rights of the LGBT community, problems still remain numerous.

Otherwise, in the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo on the right to marriage and family states that “on the basis of free will, everyone enjoys the right to marry and the right to raise families in accordance with law, marriage and its solution are regulated by law and based on the equality of marriage mates, the family enjoys special state protection, in a legally regulated manner.