Ministry Rejects ‘Media Falsehoods’ About New Family Law

The Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy on Friday rejected as inaccurate and incomplete information in the media regarding the Draft Proposal for the Family Law, emphasizing that this version is unknown to them and that work is still ongoing to reach a consensus on it.

“We believe that the published information about the Draft Proposal for the Family Law is incomplete and largely inaccurate. However, we emphasize that work is still ongoing to reach a consensus on the Draft Proposal for the Family Law, and this version is unknown to us,” states the Ministry’s statement.

>>>SDP: New Proposal for Family Law to the Detriment of Children

Ministry: A process of consensus with coalition partners is forthcoming

They emphasize that a process of consensus with coalition partners is forthcoming, which will be completed by May, after which the Ministry will submit the Draft Proposal for the Family Law for public discussion. During the discussion, the interested public will be able to provide comments and suggestions, and then there will also be a discussion in two readings in the Croatian Parliament.

According to Jutarnji List, the new proposal for the Family Law has recently been sent for review to the coalition partners of the HDZ. The new version does not contain the controversial definition of family, but some other provisions whose removal was announced remain in the current proposal – common-law partnerships are not fully equated with marriages, common-law couples can adopt children only if “there are justified reasons on the child’s side,” the divorce of parents of minor children will be initiated in court instead of at the social welfare center, the parental plan has been completely removed, and a special guardian – a lawyer who represents the child in a contentious divorce, will be paid by the parents.

>>>HURR: Proposed Family Law Undermines the Rights of Children and Parents

The opposition reacted sharply to the draft law, with members of the SDP and GLAS speaking out on social media, and the SDP holding an extraordinary press conference where it was emphasized that these are bad solutions that harm children, favor the lawyer lobby, and satisfy interest groups around the HDZ.

SDP: Murganić is Taking Us Back to the Middle Ages

“Minister Murganić is taking us back to the Middle Ages with the proposal for the new Family Law. We have the right to the family we want. You will not take it away from us. All families are equally valuable. Children must be provided with quality education based on science,” wrote SDP president Davor Bernardić on Twitter.

SDP’s Arsen Bauk warns on Facebook that this is “violence against families” that SDP members will try to prevent by all democratic means.

Peđa Grbin assesses that “this draft law, just like the pushing of Glunčić to the head of the ERS for curricular reform, is living proof that Plenković’s Government and the HDZ are neither moderate nor centrist, and especially are not a barrier to the conservative revolution.”

>>>SDP Recognizes ‘Totalitarianism in the Shameful Family Law’

Bojan Glavašević stated on Twitter that the SDP will certainly seek a constitutional review if such a law, which clearly reduces the achieved level of rights for LGBT persons in Croatia, is passed in the Parliament. He tells the Prime Minister, “let him decide whether he wants to build a modern or a Paleolithic Croatia.”

GLAS particularly comments on the provision in the proposal which states: “Parents have the right to ensure that their children receive education in accordance with their religious and philosophical beliefs.”

“Does this mean that if parents believe the Earth is flat, geography teachers must teach children that? We have seen where the ‘knowledge’ of parents that children should not be vaccinated leads. This Government is taking us to the Middle Ages, not the 19th century,” says GLAS president Anka Mrak-Taritaš.

>>>GLAS: Murganić Must Resign

HNS Opposes the Proposal Alongside the Opposition

Along with the opposition, the HNS, which is a member of the ruling coalition, has also opposed the new proposal for the Family Law. HNS states that Croatia is a secular state and that faith is taught in religious communities, not in schools.

HNS claims that it has not received the final and agreed Draft Proposal for the Family Law, but emphasizes that the issue of education cannot be defined by the Family Law, but rather by laws from the education sector, and that only scientifically based, methodologically age-appropriate, and pluralistically presented content should be taught in schools.

The new draft of the Family Law is the second attempt by Plenković’s Government to amend family legislation – the first proposal was submitted for public discussion at the end of September last year, but was withdrawn after less than 24 hours, primarily due to the definition of family which was very narrow and exclusively related to children, so that couples without children did not constitute a family according to that definition.