SKANDINAVSKI MODEL PRAVNOG UREĐENjA REGISTROVANOG PARTNERSTVA

Abstract

The obligation to recognize and regulate same-sex unions in Serbia is an international obligation that the country has to follow, arising from the established practice of the European Court of Human Rights. In the draft version of the Law on Same-Sex Unions prepared by the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights of the Republic of Serbia, it is proposed to introduce a registered partnership as a new form of partnership. At the same time, the creators of the aforementioned draft of the Law accept the Scandinavian model of regulating registered partnership created exclusively as a union of persons of the same sex, for the conclusion of which certain formal conditions are required. This is a dualistic approach, according to which marriage belongs to heterosexual couples, while registered partnership is only granted to persons of the same sex. However, the experience of the Scandinavian countries indicates that the registered partnership model represents only a temporary phase until the conclusion of same-sex marriages is enabled. The mentioned phase is not, nor could it be, short-lived, since legislative changes expanding the rights of same-sex couples are taking place gradually. In the paper, the author analyzes the mentioned model and points out its basic advantages and disadvantages.