Constitutional referendum in Croatia

Citizens initiative "In the name of the family" has in May 2013 collected around 750 000 signatures (20% of the voting population) so that a constitutional referendum can be held in Croatia with a question: "Are you for that into the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia is introduced a provision by which marriage is a living union of a woman and a man?“

The collected signatures have been declared valid by the authorities in September and these days the Parliament is about to make a formal decision on holding a national constitutional referendum, which should take place on December 1st 2013 (the date still needs to be confirmed). Under the Croatian Constitution, there is no participation quorum needed for the referendum to be valid, so the decision is made by a simple majority of those who voted.

Parallel with the referendum procedure, the liberal-leftist parliamentarian majority has drafted a new Family law which turned out to be full of flaws, but so far the redefinition of marriage and child adoption by same-sex couples are not included in the draft. Also, the draft law on same-sex civil partnerships is said to be put on public debate within weeks and it contains a provision which allows the parental rights be transferred to the third person.