Human Rights Action (HRA) joins the appeal of our colleagues from the organization Spektra and calls on Prime Minister Milojko Spajić to place the proposal for the Law on Legal Recognition of Gender Identity Based on Self-Determination on the agenda of the 62nd Government session. We expect Minister of Human and Minority Rights Fatmir Đeka to take all necessary measures without delay to ensure that the draft of this law is submitted to the Members of Parliament for consideration before the end of this year’s session.

The adoption of this law is part of the Government’s Program for Accession to the European Union for 2024-2027, represents an important step toward improving the conditions and quality of life for trans persons in Montenegro, and means aligning national legislation with European standards. This law is also a key precondition for further progress in the EU accession process, as it contributes to fulfilling obligations within negotiation chapters 19 (Social Policy and Employment) and 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights). We note that the final benchmarks for Chapter 23 require the fulfillment of all recommendations from the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), which clearly stated in its 2023 annual report that the state is obligated to enable legal recognition of gender without the need for sterilization.

We remind you that the current procedure for gender recognition in Montenegro requires mandatory sterilization of both minors and adults, which is cruel and contrary to international and European human rights standards.

The European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly ruled that conditioning the recognition of gender identity for transgender individuals with sterilization, surgery, or treatment that almost certainly leads to infertility constitutes a violation of their right to respect for private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the right to physical integrity under Article 3 of the Convention (A.P., Garçon and Nicot v. France, 2017, § 131; X and Y v. Romania, 2021, § 165).

We warn that human rights must not be a subject of political bargaining – they are the foundation of basic freedoms, equality, and human dignity for every individual.