The European Court of Human Rights recognized the impossibility of marrying in Ukraine as a violation of the rights of a same-sex couple. This was reported by the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union on June 1.
The claim to the ECHR was filed by Andriy Maimulakhin and Andriy Markiv, who live in family partnership since 2010. In 2014, they decided to protest in court the impossibility of legalizing their relationship in Ukraine.
While considering the case, the court noted that, “unlike heterosexual couples who prefer not to marry for personal reasons, but still have the right to legal recognition and protection, the applicants have neither access to marriage in Ukraine nor the opportunity to get any alternative form of legal recognition”.
The ECtHR observed that the applicants were deprived of any opportunity to regulate the main aspects of their life as a couple, with the exception of certain property aspects. The court also took into account the clear trend at the European level towards the legal recognition and protection of same-sex couples in the member states of the Council of Europe, according to the message.
The refusal of the applicants as a same-sex couple to receive any form of legal recognition and protection, as compared to heterosexual couples, was recognized by the ECtHR as discrimination based on sexual orientation. The court awarded €5,000 in compensation to each of the applicants.
On March 8, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine announced its intention to submit a draft law on civil partnerships for same-sex couples to the Council.
On May 26, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Cabinet of Ministers with a proposal to work out the issue of introducing the institute of registered civil partnership in Ukraine.
Context:
In Ukraine, the legalization of same-sex marriages has been repeatedly raised. This topic was especially acute after the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, since there are LGBT representatives among the Ukrainian military, who cannot exercise the rights of married couples in the event of the death or injury of one of the partners.
In July 2022, a petition calling for the legalization of same-sex marriages received 25,000 votes. However, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, responding to her, said that, according to the Constitution, marriage is based on the voluntary consent of a man and a woman. In wartime conditions, the Constitution of Ukraine cannot be changed.
At the same time, Zelenskyi did not reject the option of introducing a civil partnership mechanism in Ukraine. This is an alternative to marriage, which has been introduced in 28 countries of the world, for example, in Germany, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, Italy and others. In addition, it can be applied both to same-sex couples and to heterosexual couples who, for their own reasons, do not want to get married.
The Equal Rights Project explains that civil partnerships will allow same-sex couples in Ukraine to enjoy a number of rights that official spouses have. They will have the right to joint property, to inherit property, to social security and benefits available to families, and will also be able not to testify against the partner and be the partner’s proxy.
Source: gordonua.com
