No. 07-01-1002/2025-02  Date: 16.6.2025.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

Prof. Dr Dejan Vuk Stanković, Minister

11000 BELGRADE

Nemanjina 22-26

Dear Mr. Stanković,

We have received your letter no. 611-00-150/2025-03 dated 9 June 2025, requesting an opinion and instructions on how secondary schools should proceed in the case of issuing diplomas on acquired education to persons who have undergone “gender change.”

As you are aware, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality was established by the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination^[1] as an independent state authority, autonomous in the performance of duties determined by law. Article 33 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination prescribes the competences of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality. One of the main competences of the Commissioner is to receive and examine complaints regarding discrimination, issue opinions and recommendations in specific cases of discrimination, and impose measures established by law. In addition, the Commissioner is authorized to propose conciliation procedures, initiate court proceedings for protection against discrimination, and submit requests for the initiation of misdemeanor proceedings due to acts of discrimination prescribed by anti-discrimination regulations. The Commissioner is also authorized to alert the public to the most frequent, typical, and severe cases of discrimination and to recommend measures to public authorities for the achievement of equality.

We consider the subject of your inquiry to be extremely important, bearing in mind that the issue of issuing diplomas to persons who, in the course of medical and legal transition, have changed the gender marker and name after completing secondary school or university, is not regulated by legislation. On the other hand, since the establishment of the institution of the Commissioner, citizens have continuously addressed us with complaints against educational institutions, requesting that diplomas of acquired education be issued in accordance with their new identity data.

In proceedings for protection against discrimination before the Commissioner, educational institutions have acted in accordance with the given recommendations and have issued diplomas with new personal data to persons who have changed their gender marker (and names in accordance with their gender identity). Educational institutions have often pointed to the existence of a legal gap but have found ways within the existing normative framework to establish a basis for changing the data in these public documents.

It should be taken into account that in the process of legal transition, the competent state authorities issue a decision for each registered change[2] (gender marker, name, unique personal identification number) in public documents, thereby ensuring legal continuity and unequivocally proving that the person in question is the one who obtained the education at the institution issuing the document. In this way, any possibility of misuse is excluded, and the applicable regulations do not preclude the issuance of new diplomas and other documents[3].

The Commissioner firstly notes that the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia[4], in Article 21, prescribes that all persons are equal before the Constitution and the law, and that any form of discrimination, on any grounds, is prohibited. Furthermore, Article 18, paragraph 3, stipulates that the provisions on human and minority rights shall be interpreted in favor of promoting the values of a democratic society, in accordance with the applicable international standards on human and minority rights, as well as the practice of international institutions overseeing their implementation.

The constitutional prohibition of discrimination is further elaborated in the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, which, in Article 4, prescribes the principle of equality by stipulating that all persons are equal and enjoy the same status and equal legal protection, regardless of personal characteristics, and that everyone is obliged to respect the principle of equality, that is, the prohibition of discrimination. Article 20 explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sex, gender, and gender identity. Specifically, it prohibits the denial of rights based on sex and gender identity or due to gender reassignment or gender adjustment in accordance with one’s gender identity.

Persons who have aligned their sex with their gender identity (trans persons) have a legitimate interest in having public documents used in legal transactions, including diplomas of acquired education, issued in their new name, aligned with their gender identity, as this ensures that the “gender reassignment” is fully integrated into their personal and professional life. It should be taken into account that a name typically carries a gender marker, so any discrepancy between the name indicated on the diploma and the public document used to prove identity in legal transactions can objectively lead to violations of the right to privacy and to discrimination in all situations where the individual presents a diploma as proof of education, such as employment, continuation of studies, etc.

The Commissioner points to the need to view the issue of issuing new documents in the context of the overall social position of transgender persons, as the human rights of this group have long been ignored and neglected, despite the fact that the problems they face are serious and specific. Transgender persons are exposed to a very high level of discrimination, intolerance, and open violence. They are denied or face significant obstacles in exercising some fundamental human rights, including the right to the inviolability of psychological and physical integrity and the right to health care. Although this is a very small and diverse community, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality believes that all social actors must provide support and take all necessary measures, each within their respective competences, so that transgender persons in Serbia can enjoy all rights guaranteed to citizens, without discrimination. It is also important to recognize that for transgender persons, it is of utmost importance that, following gender reassignment, they have the possibility to change both their legal and social status and align it with their gender identity.

The need to eliminate all forms of discrimination against transgender persons has also been highlighted in numerous binding and non-binding documents of international organizations of which the Republic of Serbia is a member, such as: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979), the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council (Report on the Republic of Serbia adopted on 3 October 2023 in Geneva), the UN Human Rights Council Resolution on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (2011), the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity CM/Rec(2010)5, the Report by the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe on Human Rights and Gender Identity (2009), Resolution 1728(2010)1 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, and Recommendation 1117(1989) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the condition of transsexuals.

Furthermore, the European Court of Human Rights has issued numerous judgments emphasizing the need for a better understanding of the issues faced by transgender persons, in order to reduce and eventually eliminate such problems altogether—for example, see the Court’s rulings in the cases of B. v. France Application no. 13343/87, X, Y, Z v. the UK Application no. 21830/93, Kara v. the UK Application no. 36528/97, Goodwin and I. v. the UK Application no. 28957/95 and 25680/94, Van Kuck v. Germany Application no. 35968/97, Grant v. the UK Application no. 32570/03, L. v. Lithuania Application no. 27527/03, Schlumpf v. Switzerland Application no. 29002/06 i P.V. v. Spain Application no. 35159/09.

The Commissioner also refers to documents adopted at the EU level—Directive 2004/113/EC (2004) on the implementation of the principle of equal treatment between men and women in the access to and supply of goods and services, as well as Directive 2006/54/EC (2006) on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation.

The Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity CM/Rec(2010)5 prescribes that member states should take appropriate measures to ensure the full recognition of a person’s gender reassignment in all areas of life—particularly by enabling the change of name and gender in official documents in a quick, transparent, and accessible manner. It also states that member states should, wherever appropriate, ensure that non-state actors provide recognition of gender reassignment when it concerns key documents, such as educational or employment diplomas and certificates.

The Report of the Council of Europe Commissioner on Human Rights and Gender Identity (2009) prescribes, among other things, that the member states of the Council of Europe should develop swift and transparent procedures for the change of name and gender in birth registers, identity cards, passports, educational certificates, and other similar documents.

In this regard, and acting within the legally prescribed authority to recommend to public authorities and other persons measures for achieving equality and protection against discrimination (Article 33, item 9 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination), the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality issues a recommendation to the Ministry of Education to undertake measures within its competence to enable the issuance of diplomas and other public documents, the issuance of which falls under the jurisdiction of educational institutions, at the request of persons who, after completing their education, have undergone gender adjustment (change of gender marker), so that the personal data (name, surname, unique identification number, gender marker) on educational certificates correspond to the data in identification documents and other public documents.

Please inform us within 30 days about the measures you will undertake to act upon the recommendation of the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality.

[1] Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination (“Official Gazette of RS” Nos. 22/09 and 52/21), Article 1, para 2.

[2] For more details, see the Guide to Transition for Trans People in Serbia, published in 2020 by the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Team of the Government of the Republic of Serbia.

[3] The Law on Secondary Education and Upbringing, in Article 82, paragraph 1, item 5, prescribes that the school shall annul a public document if it determines that the data in the document do not correspond to the data in the records.

[4] “Official Gazette of RS” Nos. 98/2006 and 115/21

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković