Bračno pravo u Kraljevini SHS / Jugoslaviji: stanje zakonodavstva i pokušaj reforme

Abstract

After the Unification, in Yugoslavia there was legal particularism between six legal areas where pre-war law was applied. In the field of marriage law, the situation was further complicated because there was additional particularism between the religious marriage law of the six confessions. The article summarises the condition of state and religious legislation, with special reference to outdated norms; further on it presents the problems of legal uncertainty and the conflict of laws that arose from such a legal framework. There was a consensus among the professional public that the existing situation was very dysfunctional and that reforms were needed, but there was no agreement on specific solutions. The degree of influence that religious communities should have in the future was hotly debated, and depending on that, three models were proposed: mandatory church marriage, optional civil or church marriage, or mandatory civil marriage. At the end, the paper provides an overview of the official proposal for a moderate reform in the Draft Civil Code, along with an explanation as to why it was never implemented. Special attention is paid to the reception of foreign law and the adequacy of transplanted norms within the domestic legal system.