The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) admitted a complaint filed by the ACCEPT Association and several people against the Romanian state, alleging a violation of Article 8 of the Convention of the Court, which provides for “the right to respect for private and family life”. The decision comes four years after 42 people sued the Romanian state due to the lack of recognition and legal protection for their same-sex marriages.
The decision was pronounced in the case of Buhuceanu and Ciobotaru and 20 other same-sex families. In Tuesday’s ruling, the ECHR found that Romania violated Article 8 of the Convention regarding “private life” as well as “family life”.
“Every person has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.The interference of a public authority in the exercise of this right is not allowed except to the extent that it is provided for by law and constitutes, in a democratic society, a necessary measure for national security, public safety, the economic well-being of the country, the defense of order and the prevention of crimes criminal cases, the protection of health, morals, rights and freedoms of others“, says Article 8.
The Accept Association says that the ECHR’s decision is a historic one: “Following this historic decision, in order to comply with the Convention, Romania must adopt a legal form of recognition of same-sex families. The ECHR makes it clear that these families urgently need some form of recognition that would give these families equal rights and create a legal framework that would protect the common life of these couples. The ACCEPT association asks once again on the occasion of this decision that the Romanian Government and Parliament do their duty towards all its citizens and treat all families in our country with dignity and respect.
We request the Government and the Parliament to adopt appropriate instruments of legal protection and recognition for all families in Romania, such as: Amending the Civil Code to allow same-sex marriage and the recognition of same-sex marriages concluded abroad; Legislation of the civil partnership, regardless of the gender of the two partners, registered by the civil status officer; The protection of the de facto family, which does not opt for marriage or civil partnership, in the field of patrimony, health and in order to prevent and combat domestic violence”.
On May 17, the ACCEPT association launched a petition calling for “legal protection and recognition for all families.”
Florin Buhuceanu and Victor Ciobotaru, two same-sex partners, sued the Romanian state following the civil registry’s refusal to recognize the family relationship between them. Other same-sex couples have joined the effort, as legislation to regulate civil partnerships is blocked in parliament.
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