Unmarried Couples in Serbia between the Constitution and the laws

Mršević, Zorica (2018) Unmarried Couples in Serbia between the Constitution and the laws. In: Yearbook. No. 1, Human rights protection "From unlawfulness to legality" = Godišnjak. Br. 1, Zaštita ljudskih prava "Od protivpravnosti do zakonitosti". Provincial Protector of Citizens – Ombudsman : Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research, Novi Sad ; Belgrade, pp. 281-293. ISBN 978-86-89417-08-1(PZG) ; 978-86-80756-14-1 (IKSI)

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Abstract

The object of the paper is to point out that the Constitutional equalization of the marital and extra-marital unions is not followed by the legal provisions of several laws. The differences cause unequal treatment in use of existential human rights of unmarried couples. Namely, the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia stipulates that the unmarried couples are equal to the marital ones, and that the family, mother, single parent and child in the Republic of Serbia enjoy special protection. Therefore, marital and extra-marital unions are not only recognized by the Constitution, but also equalized as such. Also, the Constitution provides the family with special protection, whereby the Constitutional Court points out that, when it comes to the family the Constitution makes no distinction between marital and extra-marital unions. But the status of the extramarital partners is not recognized by the Labor rights Law, the Inheritance Law, the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance the Law on Personal Income Tax the Law on Property Tax. For example, Law on Pension and Disability Insurance do not recognize the right to family pension to the survived partner of the deceased insured partner, thereby violating and changing the essence of the Constitution of the guaranteed right to equality of marital and extramarital unions in front of law. The aim of the paper is to indicate the necessity of legal changes that would take into account the modalities that allow the surviving spouse to protect human rights in the form of enjoyment of family pension and legal inheritance in analogy to marital partners. Comparative legal solutions point to criteria such as the duration of the extramarital unions, common children, the absence of a marital union, neither the deceased nor the surviving spouse, etc.

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