No. 07-00-653/2023-02 date: 18 March 2024.

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint of A. A. from B. against high school B. B, due to discrimination based on gender identity. In the complaint, it was stated that the complainant addressed school B. B. to change documents (diploma and certificate of completion of high school) due to the gender adjustment process and that it was explained to him that he should declare the documents under his birth name invalid, after which the school issued him Certificates of completion of the first, second and third grades dated May 24, 2022, and the Certificate of passing the final exam dated May 10, 2022, where it is stated that the original diploma was declared invalid on March 15, 2022. It was further stated that the new documents were issued in the name that the complainant now uses, that they have the director’s signature and the seal of the institution but that they are handwritten, that there is a discrepancy in the dates, and “they are absolutely not considered valid”, which, as he states, was confirmed by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts, but for which no evidence was provided. The school’s statement specified that the school took all actions in accordance with the regulations, that A. A. submitted to the school applications for the issuance of a duplicate diploma and a duplicate certificate that he submitted due to the gender adjustment process, which he also proved by the Certificate issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Police Directorate for …, the Directorate for Administrative Affairs. It was further stated that the school issued the Certificate of the final exam, as well as Certificates of the first, second, and third grades, in accordance with Article 81 of the Law on Secondary Education, which prescribes that in the absence of a prescribed form, certificates are issued of facts entered in the records (Registrar book) in accordance with the law, as well as that it is not prescribed anywhere that the certificate cannot be written by hand and that all dates entered in the certificates are correct. In the course of the proceedings, it was established that the school, at the request of A. A., issued documents in the name used by the complainant after initiating the gender adjustment process, as well as that the Certificate of passing the final exam was issued on May 10, 2022, and that it was stated that A. A. submitted the request on May 24, 2022, although it is recorded in the record book that he submitted the request on May 10, 2022. The aforementioned discrepancy in dates represents a possible technical error in the certificate, for which a correction may be requested in accordance with the regulations governing the administrative procedure, which is not within the competence of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality. Also, it was established that the school issued certificates in accordance with the provisions of Article 81 of the Law on Secondary Education and Training, considering that the diploma forms whose duplicates the complainant requested were prescribed by a by-law from 2006, which has not been in force since 2019. Considering all of the above, and above all based on the fact that the certificates were issued in the name used by the complainant, the Commissioner is of the opinion that in the specific case, the complainant was not put in a disadvantageous position based on gender identity or any other personal characteristic, that is, that the school B. B. did not violate the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković