No gender recognition provisions: 0/10 | There are laws and provisions, but with legal/medical/psychological approval: 5/10 | There are laws for self-determination, but only for those over 16 years of age: 7,5/10 | There are laws on gender self-determination, including those under 16 years of age: 10/10
Legal gender recognition procedures have existed since 2014, but the procedure is not based on self-determination and remains heavily medicalised, involving psychological counseling, hormonal therapy, surgery and sterilisation. The procedure is vague as the Law on civic registers does not clearly define its requirements and thus leaves it to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to interpret this legal uncertainty. Name change, however, is not conditional upon the change of one’s gender marker. Minors can access name change procedures but only upon the request of their legal representative.
A legal gender recognition (LGR) reform process has been underway since 2022, though civil society organisations began advocating for change as early as 2016. In 2022, the government issued an open call for membership in a Working Group tasked with drafting an LGR law, which included representatives from the organisations Spectra and Juventas. The Working Group completed a draft of the law in late 2022 and continued its work through 2023 and 2024. Although the draft law received endorsement from the government, it had not been submitted to Parliament by the end of the year. The delay was due to obstruction by the Prime Minister, despite the law enjoying clear support from a majority of Members of Parliament.
The draft Law on Legal Gender Recognition in Montenegro has garnered widespread support from both national and international stakeholders. A total of 48 prominent activists and civil society organisations in Montenegro have publicly endorsed the law. Additionally, four major international organisations (TGEU, ILGA-Europe, ERA, and IGLYO) representing over 900 members collectively, have expressed their strong support. This was further reinforced by two open letters: one signed by 137 regional NGOs and activists, and another by over 100 individuals from the academic community. Fifteen Members of the European Parliament have also called for the law's adoption, emphasising its importance for Montenegro’s progress in the EU accession process. In December, four major political parties forming the majority in the Montenegrin Parliament (DPS, SD, PES, and URA) officially endorsed the law during a public panel hosted by Spektra. Furthermore, during a session of the Montenegrin Youth Parliament, one of the formal youth proposals to the Government was the adoption of the Law on Legal Gender Recognition by the end of the year.
The Government is obligated to adopt this law under Montenegro's EU Accession Programme for 2023–2024, a commitment that remains unfulfilled. The Delegation of the European Union in Montenegro has explicitly urged the Government to adopt the Law on Legal Gender Recognition based on self-identification without further delay. The draft law is now listed in the Government’s 2025 work program, though it was fully prepared and ready for adoption by the end of 2024.
The adoption of the law would fulfill key commitments under the 2024–2027 Reform Agenda and advance Montenegro’s compliance with international human rights obligations. Both the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) have recommended that legal gender recognition procedures be based on self-determination and exclude sterilisation as a prerequisite.
Although there is no specific EU acquis directly governing legal gender recognition based on self-identification, the adoption of this law would significantly contribute to fulfilling final benchmarks in the area of fundamental rights. It would also help ensure implementation of CPT recommendations and provide mechanisms for prompt and appropriate judicial action in cases of abuse. The European Commission has already issued a positive opinion on the draft law, acknowledging its importance for the advancement of human rights in Montenegro and calling for its immediate adoption.
As part of its fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR), UN States recommended Montenegro to introduce legal gender recognition procedures that uphold the dignity, self-identification, and autonomy of trans people.
There is no evidence of policies allowing students to use their preferred name before legal gender recognition.
