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 , lawyer s 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 Sisa č ko-moslova č ka ) 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 discriminat ed 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 ground s of her sexual orientation , contrary t o Article 14 of the Convention rea d in conjunction with Article 8 of the Convention ?

The Government are request ed to submit two copies of all relevant documents form the domestic proceedings.