The European Court of Human Rights ordered Ukraine to legalize same-sex unions

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled in favor of a same-sex couple from Ukraine. He acknowledged that the country's authorities infringed on their rights on the basis of sexual orientation. People's Deputy of Ukraine told about it Inna Sovsun on her Facebook page.

Photo: IStock

In 2014, same-sex couple Andrey Maimulakhin and Andrey Markov filed several complaints with the ECHR demanding official recognition by the state and registration of their relationship.

Then they made a joint statement:

“We, Andrey Maimulakhin and Andrey Markov, have been in a family relationship for more than 10 years. We live like a family: we have common property, mutual support and care, our beloved pets, obligations to each other and responsibility. We share all the joys and troubles, like any happy family.

However, in the eyes of the state, we are just 2 separate people who, in fact, do not have mutual rights and obligations among themselves. We do not agree with this."

And now, after so many years, the European Court of Human Rights satisfied their complaint, found Ukraine guilty of violating Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights - the prohibition of discrimination - in combination with Article 8 (the right to private and family life).

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The Court found, in particular, that the applicants had been treated differently from opposite-sex couples due to the lack of any legal recognition and protection for them, and that their sexual orientation was the only basis for the difference in treatment. European truth.

“By its decision, the ECHR obliged Ukraine to recognize the relations of LGBT couples. This means that Ukraine, as a state party to the European Convention on Human Rights, must adopt a law that will recognize same-sex couples at the legal level and provide them with the opportunity to register their relationship as a family,” writes Sovsun. — The ECHR has made similar decisions in relation to other countries, this is common practice. Italy and Greece made the same decisions at one time. Very soon, Poland will also face such an obligation. In this case, the court each time analyzes the national legislation of the state: the Constitution, the family code, the practice of national courts and takes into account the explanations of the defendant’s government.”

“Failure to comply with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights is a reputational risk for Ukraine before the Council of Europe and a signal to European countries that our state is not able to adequately protect human rights. This could have an extremely negative impact on our integration into the EU,” the deputy believes.

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“The questionnaire we completed when we applied to join the European Union asked how the right to marriage and the right to found a family were protected under national law, including partnerships open to same-sex couples. Even then, we assured the EU that we were working on introducing partnerships that would be open to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples,” Sovsun noted.

In its Conclusion on the Membership of Ukraine, the European Commission stressed that the protection of citizens from discrimination should include the recognition of family partnerships based on the union of two persons of the same documentary sex.

The court ruled that Ukraine must pay each of the applicants 32 euros ($34) in respect of pecuniary damage, 5000 euros ($5) in respect of non-pecuniary damage to each of them, and 360 euros ($4000) jointly and severally in respect of costs and expenses.

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