Homosexual Marriages in Serbian Private International Law (Homoseksualni Brakovi U MeđUnarodnom Privatnom Pravu Srbije)

Abstract:     
Recent introduction of fully-fledged homosexual marriages in certain countries like the Netherlands and Belgium have opened a range of issues which appear difficult to solve. This difficulty is, at least in case of Serbian law, compounded by inadequacy of existing regulation. While it is obvious that it would be impossible to, say, arrange a homosexual wedding in Serbia, grounding such contention in some clear-cut Serbian legislation appears to be a much harder task. This is due to the fact that relevant provisions of Serbian laws appear unclear or contradicting when they have to deal with homosexual marriages. While one should not doubt that Serbian legal system, as is, will reject homosexual marriages, it is impossible not to note the alarming level of legal insecurity surrounding relevant regualtion. Unlikely explanations often appear to be the only way out, while technicalities are often more imporant than substance. Subsequent amending of Serbian PIL should, as a minimum, involve amending of provisins dealing with 'ordre public', and there is a clear need for laying out unambiguous procedure for recognition of foreign marriages.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 13

Keywords: Applicable law, homosexual marriages, mandatory rules, ordre public, private international law, Serbia, recognition of foreign marriages

JEL Classification: K19

Accepted Paper Series