Report 181b – Supporters of equality in Slovenia suffered a small defeat on 20 December 2015, but it will in all likelihood soon be followed by a victory in the country's Constitutional Court
The result of the referendum held in Slovenia on 15, 16, 16, and 20 December 2015 is that the law legalizing same-gender civil marriage on an equal footing with different-gender marriage (see reports 181 and 181a) will be repealed.
That, however, is not the end of the story.
Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Slovenia reads as follows (all translations are the official English translations, published by the Slovenian government):
“V Sloveniji so vsakomur zagotovljene enake človekove pravice in temeljne svoboščine, ne glede na narodnost, raso spol, jezik, vero, politično ali drugo prepričanje, gmotno stanje, rojstvo, izobrazbo, družbeni položaj, invalidnost ali katerokoli drugo osebno okoliščino. Vsi so pred zakonom enaki.”
That is, 'In Slovenia everyone shall be guaranteed equal human rights and fundamental freedoms irrespective of national origin, race, sex, language, religion, political, or other conviction, material standing, birth, education, social status, disability, or any other personal circumstance. All are equal in the eyes of the law.'
On 2 July 2009, the Constitutional Court of Slovenia ruled unanimously that the wording "ali katerokoli drugo osebno okoliščino" ('or any other personal circumstance') means that Article 14 prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Article 90 of the Constitution reads in part as follows:
"Referenduma ni dopustno razpisati: [...] o zakonih, ki odpravljajo protiustavnost na področju človekovih pravic in temeljnih svoboščin ali drugo protiustavnost."
That is, 'A referendum may not be called: [...] on laws eliminating an unconstitutionality in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms or any other unconstitutionality.'
Therefore, the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, whose task is to ensure that all laws and the results of all referendums and popular initiatives do not violate the country's constitution, will in all likelihood find that the result of the referendum violates Article 90 and is therefore void. If so, the law making civil marriage gender-neutral will stand and all civilly married couples, no matter their gender, no matter their sexual orientation, will be equal in the eyes of the law.
Even if the Constitutional Court does not void the result of the referendum, the law legalizing same-gender civil unions will remain in force.
That law grants all same-gender couples who contract civil unions all the benefits, entitlements, privileges, protections, and rights that civil marriage grants different-gender couples except the right to adopt children.
Consequently, the referendum concerned, in essence, only that right and the maximum damage that same-gender have sustained is the inability, at least for the time being, to adopt children.