Communicated on 12 December 2013
FIRST SECTION
Application no. 68453/13
Danka PAJIĆ
against Croatia
lodged on 23 October 2013
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Ms Danka Pajić, is a national of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who was born in 1973 and lives in Brčko. She is represented before the Court by Ms A. Bandalo and Ms N. Labavić, lawyers practising in Zagreb.
The circumstances of the case
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
On an unspecified date in 2011 the applicant lodged a request for a residence permit in Croatia on the grounds of family reunification with her partner, Ms D.B., who was living in Sisak.
On 24 February 2012 the Sisak Police Department (Policijska uprava Sisačko-moslovačka) dismissed the applicant’s request on the grounds that the Aliens Act (Zakon o strancima) allowed only married different-sex couples and different-sex couples living in an extramarital relationship within the meaning of the relevant domestic law to apply for a residence permit on the grounds of family reunification.
The applicant appealed against that decision to the Ministry of the Interior (Ministarstvo unutarnjih poslova), arguing that there had been no grounds for a difference in treatment based on sexual orientation and that the relevant law should not be constructed in a manner that allowed for such a possibility.
On 8 June 2012 the Ministry of the Interior dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the decision of the Police Department.
The applicant then lodged an administrative action with the Zagreb Administrative Court (Upravni sud u Zagrebu) reiterating her previous arguments.
The Administrative Court dismissed the applicant’s action on 30 January 2013. It considered that the possibility of obtaining a residence permit on the grounds of family reunification applied only to different-sex couples and did not cover same-sex couples.
On 8 March 2013 the applicant lodged a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske) contending that she had been discriminated against based on her sexual orientation.
On 29 May 2013 the Constitutional Court dismissed the applicant’s constitutional complaint, endorsing the reasoning of the lower bodies.
COMPLAINT
The applicant complains, under Article 14 of the Convention taken in conjunction with Article 8 of the Convention, that when applying for a residence permit in Croatia she was discriminated against on the grounds of her sexual orientation.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Has the applicant suffered discrimination in obtaining a residence permit in Croatia on the grounds of her sexual orientation, contrary to Article 14 of the Convention read in conjunction with Article 8 of the Convention?
The Government are requested to submit two copies of all relevant documents form the domestic proceedings.
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