Same-sex couples in Montenegro gain the same rights as spouses

The government of Montenegro has adopted a set of draft laws aligning existing legislation with the Law on Life Partnership of Persons of the Same Sex, which was passed in 2020 and has been in force since 15 July 2021.

The amendments cover citizenship, residence, official records, personal names and civil registries, and their common goal is to equalise the legal status of partners in a same-sex life partnership with the rights already held by married and common-law spouses.

The government sent the proposals to the Montenegrin parliament under urgent procedure, as their adoption is required to meet the closing benchmarks of EU accession negotiating Chapter 23.

One of the most significant changes concerns the Law on Montenegrin Citizenship. The government proposes that people who have entered a life partnership with a Montenegrin citizen have the right to acquire Montenegrin citizenship under the same conditions that apply to married spouses.

Partners will be able to register their residence together, change address together, and be entered in the residence registers and the Central Population Register.

The amendments also allow a change of surname when a partnership is formed or dissolved, as well as the recording of partnership data in the civil registries — a further step in aligning Montenegro's legal system with European human rights standards.

Source: Blic. English adaptation: gay-serbia.com.