Graphics: IRZ
Graphics: IRZ
Bosnia and Herzegovina

The ninth “Family Law” day was held in Mostar on 10 June 2021. The event, organised by IRZ together with the Faculty of Law at Džemal Bijedić University, had been shortened to a one-day online event due to the pandemic. The international conference traditionally addresses lawyers from various succession states of former Yugoslavia with an interest in family law. This year, the focus was on current issues in family law theory and practice. The background for this choice of topic was the influence of societal and social changes on family law, e.g.:

  • migration,
  • emigration,
  • ageing population,
  • falling birth rates,
  • the growing number of bi-national marriages, especially in the closely linked West Balkan countries, as well as
  • the new possibilities of reproductive medicine.

The family law conference involved around 50 participants from both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as from Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. The goal of facilitating exchange between practising legal experts and academics was achieved, as the conference was attended by:

  • legal academics,
  • members of the judiciary,
  • notaries,
  • lawyers and
  • employees of public authorities.

After the conference was opened by the Dean of the Faculty, Prof. Dr. Alena Huseinbegović, and Dr. Stefan Pürner for IRZ, more than twenty speakers spoke on a wide range of topics. The German expert representing IRZ, Dr Karolina Mihaljevic-Schulze, a lawyer from Berlin of Croatian origin, spoke in the national language, focusing in particular on questions of parentage law in LGBT families from the perspective of the case law of the Federal Court of Justice.

To ensure the sustainability of the event, the conference papers will be printed in the Faculty Yearbook and will also be available online

The importance of the conference was also underlined by the fact that the Minister for Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the host canton Herzegovina-Neretva, Prof. Dr. Rašid Hadžović, did not miss the opportunity to open the event. In his welcoming address, he explicitly emphasised the long-standing fruitful cooperation between the faculty and IRZ.

The positive media response was also encouraging: Mostar bio domaćin konferencije ''Dani obiteljskog prava''