English translation

Editorial note: This is an English translation of the 1976 Adoption Act of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The translation seeks to preserve the structure, terminology, and legal logic of the original Yugoslav provincial statute as faithfully as possible. Certain terms are rendered functionally into English and should not be read as exact equivalents of modern Anglo-American family-law concepts. The translation is intended as an aid to understanding the original text, not as a substitute for the original-language source.

ADOPTION ACT

I. INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS

Article 1
By adoption, the rights and duties existing between parents and children shall be established between the adopter and the adoptee.
Under the conditions prescribed by this Act, a full adoption may also be established.

Article 2
An adoption may be established only if it is in the interest of the child.

Article 3
An adoption shall be established before the guardianship authority. A record shall be drawn up by the guardianship authority concerning the establishment of the adoption.

II. ADOPTION

a) Establishment

Article 4
Only a minor may be adopted.
For the adoption of a minor over 10 years of age, his or her consent shall be required.
A person who is at least 18 years older than the adoptee may adopt.
If the adopter is the spouse of the adoptee’s parent, or if other reasons indicate that the adoption is in the interest of the adoptee, the adoption may also be established where the age difference between the adopter and the adoptee is less than 18 years, but not less than 15 years.

Article 5
The consent of the adoptee’s parents shall be required for adoption.
If the child is under guardianship because he or she has no parents, or if the parents have been deprived of parental rights or legal capacity, or if their domicile or residence has been unknown for more than one year, or if for a prolonged period they have failed, without justified reason, to perform their parental duty, consent for the adoption shall be given by the child’s guardian.

Article 6
Where the adoptee’s parents do not live together, and the parent with whom the child is not living and who has not cared for the child for more than one year refuses to give consent, the guardianship authority may decide that the adoption shall be established without that parent’s consent.

Article 7
More than one person may not adopt the same person.
Spouses may jointly adopt the same person, and one spouse may also adopt such person with the consent of the other spouse.
The consent of a spouse shall not be required if that spouse has been deprived of legal capacity or if his or her place of residence has been unknown for more than one year.

Article 8
At the request of the adopter’s spouse, and with the consent of the adopter and of the adoptee’s parents, the adoption may subsequently be extended to the adopter’s spouse as well.

Article 9
The parents may revoke their consent until the adoption is declared established.

Article 10
It shall not be permissible to adopt a relative in the direct line, or a brother or sister.
It shall not be permissible for a guardian to adopt his or her ward until the guardianship authority has relieved him or her of the duty of guardianship.

Article 11
The following may not adopt:
a) a person who has been deprived of parental rights;
b) a person in respect of whom there is a well-founded suspicion that he or she would use the status of adopter to the detriment of the adoptee;
c) a person from whom it may be concluded that he or she will not raise the adoptee so that the adoptee becomes a useful member of socialist society;
d) a person deprived of legal capacity; and
e) a person suffering from a disease which may endanger the health and life of the adoptee.

Article 12
Exceptionally, where justified reasons exist, a foreign national may adopt a child who is a citizen of the SFRY and has residence in the territory of the SAP of Vojvodina, subject to the prior consent of the provincial administrative authority competent for social welfare affairs.

Article 13
An application for adoption shall be submitted to the guardianship authority of the municipality in whose territory the adoptee has domicile or residence.

Article 14
In the preparatory proceedings, the guardianship authority shall determine whether the conditions prescribed by this Act have been fulfilled and whether the adoption is in the interest of the child.
Before the parents or guardian give consent, the guardianship authority shall draw their attention to the consequences of their statement giving consent and shall acquaint them with the rights and duties arising from adoption.

Article 15
The guardianship authority shall obtain ex officio the opinions of a social worker, pedagogue, psychologist, and physician concerning the suitability of the adopter and the adoptee for the establishment of an adoption.

Article 16
Before adoption, the guardianship authority may entrust the child, for a fixed period not exceeding six months, to the adopter for upbringing, care, and custody.

Article 17
If the conditions prescribed by this Act have not been fulfilled, or if the adoption is not in the interest of the child, the guardianship authority shall reject the application for the establishment of adoption.
If the guardianship authority determines that the conditions prescribed by this Act for adoption have been fulfilled and that the adoption is in the interest of the child, it shall schedule a hearing for the establishment of the adoption.

Article 18
At the hearing for the establishment of adoption, the guardianship authority shall summon all persons who, under this Act, may give consent to the adoption.
The adopter’s spouse and the adoptee’s parents shall not be summoned to the hearing if, prior to the hearing, they have declared before the guardianship authority in the country or before a diplomatic mission of the SFRY abroad that they consent to the adoption and that they will not attend the hearing.

Article 19
At the hearing for the establishment of adoption, it shall be determined whether the conditions for the establishment of adoption exist, and the parties shall be informed of the rights and duties of the adopter, the adoptee, and the adoptee’s parents; thereafter, a statement of consent to the adoption shall be requested from those persons whom the law requires to give such consent, or their previously given statement of consent shall be read out.
Where it determines that the prescribed conditions for adoption have been fulfilled, the guardianship authority shall declare the adoption established.

Article 20
The inheritance rights of the adoptee vis-à-vis the adopter may be restricted or excluded.
If spouses have adopted jointly, the inheritance rights of the adoptee may be determined differently in relation to each of them.

Article 21
The record of the establishment of adoption shall include the actions taken and the statements made, as well as the agreement of the adopters concerning the personal name of the adoptee and the inheritance rights of the adoptee.
The record shall be signed by the persons who made statements at the hearing, the official conducting the proceedings, and the recording clerk.

Article 22
The guardianship authority shall immediately deliver the record of the established adoption to the competent registrar for entry in the register of births, and to the adopters and the adoptee’s parents, or to the guardian.

b) Effects

Article 23
By adoption, the rights and duties which by law exist between parents and children shall be established between the adopter and the adoptee and the adoptee’s descendants, unless otherwise provided by this Act.

Article 24
Adoption shall not terminate the relationships of kinship, nor the rights and obligations, between the adoptee and his or her blood relatives.

c) Termination

Article 25
Upon the request of the adoptee’s parents, the adopter, or an adoptee who has acquired legal capacity, or ex officio, the guardianship authority competent according to the adoptee’s domicile or residence shall issue a decision dissolving the adoption when it determines that this is in the interest of the adoptee.
In proceedings for dissolution of adoption, the guardianship authority shall also hear the adoptee if he or she is over 10 years of age.
The local community, a social or socio-political organization, an association of citizens, and any person may initiate proceedings for determining the reasons for termination of adoption.

Article 26
By its decision dissolving the adoption, the guardianship authority may, for justified reasons, order maintenance for the adoptee until majority at the expense of the adopter, taking into account the financial circumstances of both parties.

Article 27
An adoption shall be void if, at the time of its establishment, the conditions prescribed in Article 4 paragraphs 3 and 4, Article 5 paragraph 1, and Article 10 paragraph 1 were not fulfilled, or if reasons referred to in Article 11 exist on account of which the establishment of adoption is not permissible, or if the prior consent referred to in Article 12 of this Act does not exist.

Article 28
Annulment of adoption shall be decided by the district court. The right to bring an action for annulment of adoption shall belong to the parents, the adopter, the public prosecutor, and the adoptee after acquiring legal capacity.

Article 29
The court shall immediately deliver the final judgment annulling the adoption to the registrar for entry in the register of births.

III. FULL ADOPTION

Article 30
A child up to five years of age may be fully adopted if the child’s parents are not alive or are unknown, or if they have abandoned the child and their whereabouts have not been established even after the expiry of a period of six months from the abandonment of the child.
An adoption in whose establishment the conditions for full adoption had been fulfilled may be converted into a full adoption even after the adoptee has reached five years of age, but not later than the adoptee’s eighteenth year.
If the adoptee is over 10 years of age, his or her consent shall be required for the conversion of adoption into full adoption.
If one parent is not alive, or is unknown, a child up to five years of age may also be fully adopted with the prior consent of the other parent.

Article 31
A full adoption may be established only by both spouses.
A spouse may fully adopt the child of his or her spouse.

Article 32
Only the adopters shall be summoned to the hearing for the establishment of full adoption, and only one adopter may be summoned if, prior to the hearing, the other adopter has declared before the guardianship authority in the country or before a diplomatic mission of the SFRY abroad that he or she fully adopts the child and will not attend the hearing.

Article 33
At the hearing for full adoption, the parents’ statement giving prior consent to the adoption shall not be read out.

Article 34
The record of the establishment of full adoption shall not contain data concerning the adoptee’s parents.

Article 35
The guardianship authority shall immediately deliver the report on the establishment of full adoption to the competent registrar for entry in the register of births.
The report referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall contain the data on the registration of birth in the register of births that is to be annulled, and the data for the new registration of the adoptee’s birth, with the adopters entered as parents.

Article 36
By full adoption, a kinship relationship shall be established between the adopter and the adopter’s relatives, on the one hand, and the adoptee and the adoptee’s descendants, on the other hand, together with all rights and duties established by law between parents and children and other relatives.

Article 37
By the establishment of full adoption, the rights and duties established by law between the adoptee and his or her blood relatives shall cease.

Article 38
The establishment of paternity and maternity of a fully adopted child shall not be permissible.

Article 39
The files and data concerning full adoption, and the annulled registration of birth of a fully adopted child in the register of births, shall constitute an official secret.

Article 40
A full adoption may not be dissolved.
An adopter who has fully adopted may be restricted in the exercise of parental rights or deprived of parental rights in relation to the adoptee, under the conditions and in the manner provided for by the Act on Relations between Parents and Children.

Article 41
A full adoption shall be void if, at the time of its establishment, the conditions prescribed in Article 4 paragraphs 3 and 4, Article 10 paragraph 1, Article 30 paragraphs 1, 2 and 4, and Article 31 were not fulfilled, or if reasons referred to in Article 11 exist on account of which the establishment of adoption is not permissible, or if the prior consent referred to in Article 12 of this Act does not exist.

Article 42
The provisions of Article 4 paragraphs 1, 3 and 4, Articles 10 to 15, Article 17, Article 19, Article 21 paragraph 1, except for the provision concerning the agreement on the inheritance rights of the adoptee, and Articles 28 and 29 of this Act shall apply mutatis mutandis to full adoption as well.

IV. TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 43
An adoption established under previous regulations shall remain in force.

Article 44
The provisions of this Act shall also apply to cases in which, prior to its entry into force, the proceedings have not been concluded.

Article 45
Upon the entry into force of this Act, the Adoption Act (“Official Gazette of SAPV”, No. 24/71) shall cease to be valid.

Article 46
This Act shall enter into force on the eighth day from the day of its publication in the “Official Gazette of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina”.

870

Pursuant to Article 350, point 7, of the Constitution of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, the Presidency of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina hereby issues the following

DECREE
PROMULGATING THE ADOPTION ACT

The Adoption Act, adopted by the Assembly of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina at the session of the Council of Municipalities held on 23 September 1976 and at the session of the Socio-Political Council held on 23 September 1976, is hereby promulgated.

Presidency
of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Vojvodina

No.: 01-551/1976
Novi Sad, 28 September 1976

President
of the Presidency of SAP Vojvodina,
Radovan Vlajković, m.p.

President
of the Assembly of SAP Vojvodina,
Molnar Vilmoš, Dipl. Eng., m.p.