DOKAZIVANJE VANBRAČNE ZAJEDNICE U PRAVU BOSNE I HERCEGOVINE
PROVING THE EXTRA-MARITAL UNION IN THE LEGISLATION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Summary/Abstract: Extramarital partners are increasingly beginning to exercise their rights in the positive legislation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Family laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina have different definitions of extramarital union as well as the rights of extramarital partners. Court practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation equalized extramarital and marital partners in terms of their rights to family pensions, medically assisted fertilization, and inheritance, which consequently resulted in changes and amendments to the laws that equalize extramarital and marital partners. The union of life is a legal standard but the law does not point to the elements regarding its existence. Courts are faced with the difficult task of assessing whether the union of life has all the elements contained in the family laws of Bosnia and Herzegovina to be characterized as an extramarital union and enjoy protection. What constitutes an aggravating circumstance is that certain laws, that regulate the rights of extramarital partners, have different ways of regulating the proof of the existence of an extramarital union. While in one case a statement given in the form of a notarized document is required for the existence of an extramarital union, in another case, a final court judgment is required, and in the third case the provisions of the Family Law are taken into consideration. The question arises as to how it is possible, or whether it is legally allowed, that by exercising one right based on the recognized status, a person cannot exercise another right based on that very same recognized status. This situation leads to legal uncertainty when proving an extramarital union.

• Details
• Contents