Russian Constitutional Court will consider gay marriage case but it will no doubt fail
19/04/2006
Submitted by
Nikolay Alekseev, Human Rights LGBT Project GayRussia.ru
Russian Constitutional Court will consider gay marriage case but it will no doubt fail
A deputy of the Bashkortostan's State Assembly Edvard Murzin reports the Russian Constitutional Court will consider his inquiry next May-June. He insists on the repeal of Art.12 of the Family Code that, in his opinion, bans marriages of persons of untraditional sexual orientation.
'I have received formal notification that the Russian Constitutional Court would consider my inquiry in a plenary session next May-June', Murzin told Interfax-Povolzhje agency on Tuesday.
He said he asked the Court to alter Art.12 of the Family Code that stipulates that mutual accord of man and woman who reached marriage age is needed for marriage.
'Religious, national or color discrimination is inadmissible from the point of human rights and freedoms. So, discrimination of persons wanting to marry each other for reasons of their sex is also inadmissible', the Bashkirian deputy explained his position.
He added that he and his friend tried to register their marriage in a Moscow registry office as an experiment, but were denied registration of the same-sex marriage. The court they applied accepted the ruling as being in order.
Russian gay activist and head of LGBT Human Rights Project GayRussia.Ru Nikolai Alekseev said that “many gays and lesbians would for sure say thanks to Edvard Murzin if the Constitutional Court recognized legal denial to same-sex couples of the right to marriage as unconstitutional and obliged Russian federal legislator to eradicate contradictions between Family Code and the Constitution. But unfortunately the chances for such a scenario are close to nill”.
N.Alekseev who is also the author of the book “Gay Marriage: Family Status of Sexual Minorities in International, National and Local Law”, in which various aspects and forms of same-sex unions legalization in different countries were considered for the first time in Russia, stressed that “Russian Constitutional Court is considering the constitutionality of the law which breaches the human rights of the applicant and is applied in his case by other instances. In case of Mr. Murzin his rights were not breached because he, being a heterosexual, never had any intention to register same-sex marriage and found a same-sex family. Moreover, his potential groom came to apply for marriage under pseudonym and even without passport which contradicts with the Russian family legislation and actually turned the marriage registration attempt into farce”.
N. Alekseev said that “potentially nothing prevents Constitutional Court to judge that denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples is unconstitutional but in case of negative decision in Murzin case the door of court legalization of same-sex marriages for real gay and lesbian couples in Russia will be firmly closed for a very long time. The consideration of Murzin’s complaint in the plenary meeting of Constitutional Court will most likely be technical”.
Article posted at http://www.gayrussia.ru/en/news/detail.php?ID=4611
GayRussia.Ru
A deputy of the Bashkortostan's State Assembly Edvard Murzin reports the Russian Constitutional Court will consider his inquiry next May-June. He insists on the repeal of Art.12 of the Family Code that, in his opinion, bans marriages of persons of untraditional sexual orientation.
'I have received formal notification that the Russian Constitutional Court would consider my inquiry in a plenary session next May-June', Murzin told Interfax-Povolzhje agency on Tuesday.
He said he asked the Court to alter Art.12 of the Family Code that stipulates that mutual accord of man and woman who reached marriage age is needed for marriage.
'Religious, national or color discrimination is inadmissible from the point of human rights and freedoms. So, discrimination of persons wanting to marry each other for reasons of their sex is also inadmissible', the Bashkirian deputy explained his position.
He added that he and his friend tried to register their marriage in a Moscow registry office as an experiment, but were denied registration of the same-sex marriage. The court they applied accepted the ruling as being in order.
Russian gay activist and head of LGBT Human Rights Project GayRussia.Ru Nikolai Alekseev said that “many gays and lesbians would for sure say thanks to Edvard Murzin if the Constitutional Court recognized legal denial to same-sex couples of the right to marriage as unconstitutional and obliged Russian federal legislator to eradicate contradictions between Family Code and the Constitution. But unfortunately the chances for such a scenario are close to nill”.
N.Alekseev who is also the author of the book “Gay Marriage: Family Status of Sexual Minorities in International, National and Local Law”, in which various aspects and forms of same-sex unions legalization in different countries were considered for the first time in Russia, stressed that “Russian Constitutional Court is considering the constitutionality of the law which breaches the human rights of the applicant and is applied in his case by other instances. In case of Mr. Murzin his rights were not breached because he, being a heterosexual, never had any intention to register same-sex marriage and found a same-sex family. Moreover, his potential groom came to apply for marriage under pseudonym and even without passport which contradicts with the Russian family legislation and actually turned the marriage registration attempt into farce”.
N. Alekseev said that “potentially nothing prevents Constitutional Court to judge that denial of marriage rights to same-sex couples is unconstitutional but in case of negative decision in Murzin case the door of court legalization of same-sex marriages for real gay and lesbian couples in Russia will be firmly closed for a very long time. The consideration of Murzin’s complaint in the plenary meeting of Constitutional Court will most likely be technical”.
Article posted at http://www.gayrussia.ru/en/news/detail.php?ID=4611
GayRussia.Ru
