The Rainbow Families activist group which represents same-sex couples and LGBT people who have children or want to become parents filed a complaint to the Constitutional Court on Friday, requesting the court to rule whether the new foster care law is in line with the Constitution.

The group views the new law, which came into force in January, as discriminatory for excluding same-sex couples out of its legal definition of a potential foster family.

In spite of experts’ complaints against the wording, which effectively bars same-sex couples from applying for adoption of foster care children, the final draft of the bill remained unchanged before being passed by the centre-right majority led by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

The group’s coordinator, Daniel Martinovic, pointed out on Friday the inconsistency of the current law, according to which homosexuals are allowed to adopt or become foster parents if they are single – but are barred from doing so if they exercise their legal right to enter a life partnership with a same-sex partner.

He added that the foster care law also regulates foster care for adults, such as elderly persons and persons with mental and other disorders, but since the same provisions apply, this means that LGBT persons in a same-sex partnership cannot apply to provide foster care even for elderly members of their own families.

The association’s attorney, Zrinka Bojanic, said that in case the Constitutional Court supports the current law, interested couples would then file individual lawsuits against Croatia at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg.

“If ECHR rules that their rights have been violated by this law, Croatia would then be forced to amend legislation to implement the ruling,” said Bojanic.

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