Same-sex marriage has been legal in Slovenia since 9 July 2022, following a ruling by the Constitutional Court of Slovenia. The court had ruled that the ban on same-sex marriages violated the Constitution of Slovenia and gave the Parliament six months to amend the law to align with the ruling, although the decision took effect immediately after publication. The National Assembly passed legislation to align with the court ruling on 4 October 2022, though it was vetoed by the National Council one week later. This veto was overridden by the National Assembly on 18 October, signed by President Borut Pahor, and went into effect on 31 January 2023. Polling suggests that a majority of Slovenes support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Slovenia was the first country of former Yugoslavia, the eighteenth in Europe and the 31st in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry. Previously, a bill to legalize same-sex marriage had been approved by Parliament on 3 March 2015; however, it was rejected in a referendum on 20 December 2015.
From 2017 to 2022, Slovenia recognized same-sex partnerships providing all of the legal rights of marriage with the exception of joint adoption and in vitro fertilisation. These unions were established in February 2017 but closed off following the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2022. From 2006 to 2017, Slovenia recognized a more limited form of registered partnerships for same-sex couples, which gave partners access to property and some inheritance rights.
Partnerships Registration of Same-Sex Partnerships Act 2005 A comprehensive registered partnership bill passed its first reading in Parliament in July 2004, but was rejected at second reading in March 2005. Istospolni in heterospolni Zavrnili predlog zakona o istospolni zvezi The bill would have provided for all of the rights of marriage except for joint adoption. A law establishing partnerships, titled the Registration of Same-Sex Partnerships Act 2005 (ZRIPS; ), was proposed by the government of Janez Janša on 31 March 2005.Slovenia passes same-sex marriage law The law covered only property rights, the obligation to support a socially weaker partner and some inheritance rights. It did not grant any rights in the areas of social security, health insurance and pension, and it did not confer the status of a next-of-kin to the partner. The adoption of this law sparked considerable political debate in the National Assembly, with deputies from the Slovenian National Party opposing the recognition of same-sex unions. The opposition Social Democrats and Liberals argued that the proposed law was too weak and refused to take part in the voting. The bill was passed with 44 votes for and 3 against on 22 June 2005. It was published in the government gazette on 8 July, and became effective on 23 July 2006. Zakon o registraciji istospolne partnerske skupnosti (ZRIPS)
The Registration of Same-Sex Partnerships Act 2005 was repealed upon passage of the Partnership Act 2016, and ceased to be operational on 24 August 2017. The ability to enter into a partnership was ended, and all partnerships were converted into the new civil partnerships established by the 2016 legislation.
Family Code 2011 reforms and referendum
On 2 July 2009, the Constitutional Court found that it was unconstitutional to prevent registered partners from inheriting each other's property. It held that treating registered partners differently from married partners constituted discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, breaching Article 14 of the Constitution of Slovenia. It gave Parliament six months to remedy the situation. U-I-425/06 In response, the Minister of the Interior, Katarina Kresal, announced that the government of Borut Pahor would prepare a new law to legalise same-sex marriage.New Family Law Allowing Gay Marriage Stirs Controversy The announcement stirred some level of public controversy, mainly because it provided grounds for same-sex adoption.
On 21 September 2009, the government presented a draft family code which would have allowed same-sex couples to marry and adopt children. Po novem zakoniku istospolni partnerji do posvojitve otrok PREDLOG DRUŽINSKEGA ZAKONIKA PREDLOG DRUŽINSKEGA ZAKONIKA The bill went through a period of public consultation until 1 November 2009. Novi družinski zakonik – revolucionarni korak naprej ali nepremišljeni zdrs nazaj? Javno mnenje delijo posvojitve otrok istospolnih skupnosti Ko se nad nov družinski zakonik spravi Komisija Pravičnost in mir Predlog družinskega zakonika razdvaja javnost Izteka se javna razprava o predlogu družinskega zakonika Družinski zakonik naj varuje otroke In December 2009, the government considered amendments to the bill, Družinski zakonik bo predvidoma sprejet maja 2010 and gave final approval to the measure on 17 December 2009. Družinski zakonik pripravljen za obravnavo v DZ Družinski zakonik odhaja v parlament It was submitted to the National Assembly on 21 December 2009. 0817-V Družinski zakonik 0817-V Družinski zakonik Evidenčni podatki On 2 March 2010, the bill was approved by the Assembly in its first reading.Gay Adoptions Cause Rift as MPs Discuss Family Law Bill Družinski zakonik čez oviro On 24 January 2011, due to the difficulty of passing the bill, the government announced its intention to amend it before final passage in the National Assembly. The amended bill would have granted same-sex registered partnerships all the rights of marriage except for joint adoption—though stepchild adoption would have been permitted—and retained the definition of marriage as a "union between a man and a woman". Ministrstvo je pripravilo kompromisni predlog družinskega zakonika
On 3 March 2010, the Supreme Court of Slovenia ruled that a male couple with dual Slovenian-American citizenship, who adopted a baby girl in the United States, were to be recognised as the child's legal parents in Slovenia as well. On 17 July 2011, the Ministry for Work, Family and Social Affairs allowed a woman to adopt her same-sex partner's biological child. This raised the possibility that such an adoption would be possible even if the 2011 Family Code were to be repealed in a referendum.
On 7 April 2011, the National Assembly approved the amended bill in its second reading. Odbor za delo potrdil t.i. kompromisni predlog družinskega zakonika It passed its final reading on 16 June 2011. Queer:Slowenien schreckt vor Ehe-Öffnung zurück Zakonik sprejet, morda veto DS, morda še referendum The new law was challenged on 1 September 2011 by a conservative popular movement called "The Civil Initiative for the Family and Rights of Children", which called for a national referendum on the issue, and started gathering the requisite signatures. Dosje: Družinski zakonik In response, the government asked the Constitutional Court to declare whether such a referendum would be constitutional. On 26 December 2011, the Constitutional Court ruled that holding a referendum on this issue was constitutional. A referendum on 25 March 2012 led to the rejection of the bill.
Partnership Bill 2014 On 14 April 2014, the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Anja Kopač Mrak, presented a bill to grant partnerships all the rights of marriage, except for adoption and artificial insemination. It underwent a public consultation process until 5 May 2014. Pričela se je javna obravnava Zakona o partnerski skupnosti Partnerska skupnost je skupnost dveh žensk ali dveh moških, ki skleneta partnersko skupnost However, the bill's fate was uncertain due to early parliamentary elections on 13 July 2014, which were held following the resignation of Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek. On 15 October 2014, the Ministry announced another public consultation on the draft, which lasted until 15 November. Začetek javne razprave o predlogu Zakona o partnerski skupnosti In January 2015, Minister Anja Kopač Mrak said that the bill would be put on hold while a proposal to legalise same-sex marriage was to be considered by Parliament. Zakonska zveza – ne za moža in ženo, za dve osebi
Partnership Act 2016 On 22 December 2015, following the 20 December 2015 referendum, which prevented same-sex marriage from being legalized in Slovenia, Deputy Jani Möderndorfer introduced a bill to grant same-sex couples all the rights of marriage, except for joint adoption and in vitro fertilisation. 967-VII Zakon o partnerski zvezi Möderndorfer: Primc je zlorabil referendumsko vprašanje za vključitev v politiko The bill would also repeal the Registration of Same-Sex Partnerships Act 2005, and all partnerships would have to be converted to a new institution, called partnerska zveza () in Slovene, within the first six months after the bill's date of application. Partnerska zveza had the same formal registration procedure as marriages. On 10 March 2016, the government of Miro Cerar expressed its support for the bill. Mnenje Vlade o Predlogu zakona o partnerski zvezi On 5 April, the bill was approved by the Committee on Labour, Family, Social Policy and Disability of the National Assembly. On 21 April, it was approved by the Assembly in a 54–15 vote. Državni zbor sprejel zakon o partnerski zvezi The National Council did not require the Assembly to vote on the bill again.
+21 April 2016 vote in the National Assembly Party Voted for Voted against Abstained Absent (Did not vote) Modern Centre Party – – Slovenian Democratic Party – Democratic Party of Pensioners – – Social Democrats – – United Left – – New Slovenia – – Independent – – Unaffiliated MPs – – – Total 15 0 21
On 28 April, the Trade Union of Migrant Workers (SDMS; ) filed a motion, with 2,500 signatures, in order to be allowed to proceed with a petition for a referendum. 967-VII Pobuda volivcem za vložitev zahteve za razpis referenduma v zvezi z Zakonom o partnerski zvezi (28.04.2016) Delavci migranti vložili referendumske pobude še za tri zakone Predstavniki delavcev migrantov v DZ vložili referendumske pobude še za tri zakone (daljše) However, on 5 May, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Milan Brglez, refused to set a thirty-five-day deadline during which the proposers could collect 40,000 valid signatures to force a referendum, arguing that this and several other SDMS referendum initiatives constituted an abuse of the referendum laws. 967-VII Odločitev predsednika Državnega zbora o nedoločitvi roka za zbiranje podpisov volivcev 05.05.2016 Brglez je zavrnil še tri referendumske pobude. Odbor 2014 protestiral pred DZ-jem. He sent the bill for promulgation the next day. 967-VII Dopis predsedniku Republike Slovenije (06.05.2016) 967-VII Dopis Uradnemu listu It was promulgated by President Borut Pahor and published in the official gazette on 9 May 2016. Uradni list RS, št. 33/2016 z dne 9. 5. 2016 Objavljeni zakoni, za katere so delavci migranti predlagali referendume The law took effect on the fifteenth day after publication (i.e. 24 May 2016) and became operational nine months later (i.e. 24 February 2017). Zakon o partnerski zvezi On 10 May, the SDMS challenged Brglez's decision to the Constitutional Court, Delavci migranti so vložili ustavno pritožbo nad Brglezovo odločitev which rejected the challenge on 21 July 2016. Ustavno sodišče zavrnilo vse pobude delavcev migrantov
The ability to enter into a partnership was closed off following the legalization of same-sex marriage in Slovenia. Partners could convert their union into a recognized marriage until 31 July 2023. Couples were afforded an extra two months to convert their partnerships into marriages if they were unable to do so previously for "excusable reasons". Otherwise, all partnerships were dissolved on 31 July.
Statistics According to Slovenia's official statistics agency, SiStat, 284 same-sex partnerships had been performed in Slovenia under both the 2005 and 2016 laws up to the end of 2018. A majority of partnerships were between men, and most were performed in 2017 and 2018.
Same-sex marriage