Blert Morina wins case at Court for Changing Sex and Name

Thus said a communique of the Centre for Equality and Freedom of LGBT in Kosovo, stressing that on December 11, 2019, the Constitutional Court Act in Pristina, the Department of Administration Affairs, with which it was granted the right to change the gender marker and name to identification documents in line with its gender identity.

“Morina had asked the Bureau of Civil Status in Gjakova in April 2018, to change the name from «Blerta» to «Blert» and the gender marker from the female gender «F», to the male gender marker « « »>>> Following the refusal response of the Civil State Office and the Civil Record Agency (ARC), Morina filed a lawsuit with the Foundation Court in Pristina, demanding that his gender identity be legally recognised. In parallel with the indictment filed at the Constitutional Court in Pristina, Morina had also filed a request for a review of the constitutionality of the ARC's refusal decision at the Constitutional Court. However, the constitution had rejected his request as premature, reasoning that regular legal means should be exhausted before the Constitutional Court was directed. This case received great public attention as the first public case of a transgjior person who demands con by the state of Kosovo to be legally recognised his gender identity. The ARC, represented by the State Lawyers, had submitted answers to the indictment at the Constitutional Court in Pristina, however, has not been submitted to either of the two court hearings held in this court. On October 24, 2019, the Constitutional Court in Pristina -- the Administrative Affairs Department -- ruled by which it approved it as based on Blerta Morina's indictment and ordered that the ARC's refusal decision be annulled. In the meantime, he ordered the Directorate General Administration of Gjakova to change the name from «Blerta» to «Blert» and gender marker from «F» to «M» to the Founder's Register and Civil Status Central Register. The Constitutional Court in Pristina, among other things, has found that, with Morina's refusal to call for a change in name and gender scorer, his right to privacy protected with the Constitution of Kosovo, the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court's court practice for Human Rights” has been violated, the communique said.

According to the Centre for Equality and Freedom of the LGBT Community in Kosovo, this court ruling is the second public decision in which fair courts in Kosovo decide in favour of protecting the human rights of the Transgjiral community in Kosovo.

Another case similar to that of Morina was decided by the Court of Appeal in August 2018. After reviewing the M.M. complaint. Against the Civil Recording Agency, the Court of Appeals has confirmed the Constitutional Court's decision in Pristina, where it is decided to grant justice to M. M. -to change the name and the gender marker in line with his gender identity. The Transgjir community is one of the most vulnerable social groups living in Kosovo”, the communiqué says.

Blert Morina's case has prompted the development of the public record for the social acceptance of transgjian persons in Kosovo and for ensuring human rights protected with the Constitution of Kosovo.