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The subject matter of this paper is divorce by mutual consent in Roman law and contemporary law. In the first part of this article, the authors analyzes the key tenets of consensual divorce in Roman law, with specific reference to the impact of Christian religious teaching on the concepts of marriage and divorce as well as on the Roman rulers' constitutions, which marked the beginning of the process of restricting the right to divorce. In the central part of the paper, the authors examines the regulation on the consensual divorce in some contemporary legal systems. In addition, the authors provides a substantial analysis of the normative framework on the termination of marriage in the positive Serbian legislation. In the final part of the paper, the authors provides a comparative analysis and underscores the observed similarities and differenced in the regulation of the institute of consensual divorce in Roman law and in the contemporary legislation.

The work is dedicated to the evolution of adoption practice from ancient Roman law to modern law. Adoption represents ancient social and legal practice which has during time changed manifestations and the causes it served. Adoption in ancient Rome served the interests of pater familias without biological posterity. Adoption practice benefited the continuance of families and the family cult of adopters, whose family lines, with no natural posterity, were threatened to become extinct. After the stagnation in the feudal epoch, adoption was reaffirmed in the bourgeois law. Civil codes in European countries, whose legal systems were built on the foundations of the ancient Roman legal tradition, originally favoured the interests of individuals with no biological children, who were granted to extend their families by adopting, and hence transfer their assets on the obtained heirs. After the wars in the 20th century, which led to a rapid increase in the number of parentless children, the concept of adoption was radically changed, so that since that time the adoption has primarily served the interests of the adopted children and the care for them in the adoptive families. Adoption becomes a form of a social, legal family protection of children without adequate parental care, and that is the most desirable form to provide for children, for the adoptee completely integrates with the adoptive family and takes the right of the born child, where the family environment provides and encourages the optimal mental and physical development of the child.

In this paper, the author analyses the institute of divorce in the modern world. Given the fact that the institute of divorce is inseparable from the institute of marriage, in the introductory part the author points out to the specific characteristics of marriage in the contemporary society and discusses some factors which are presently perceived as the primary causes of instability of marital relations. In the central part of the article, the author provides an overview of divorce legislation in some European countries which are traditionally used as role models in the field of regulating family relations, thereupon focusing on the applicable divorce law in Serbia. In particular, the author looks into the process of liberalization of divorce legislation and examines its impact on the growing divorce rate in the contemporary societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Joint exercise of parental rights is an adequate form of parental care after divorce if the parents are able to overcome mutual animosity, and resolve conflicts, that may result in the complete dissolution of the family unit. Joint custody eliminates the negative effects of the sole exercise of parental rights since former spouses still have equal legal status after divorce so that they are jointly responsible for raising a child. In joint custody, parents jointly exercise all rights and responsibilities of parenting and make agreements, whereas the physical custody of the child in most cases belongs to one parent, though there may be an option of the child's alternate residence with both parents, in which case both parents alternately have the custody of the child. The concept of joint exercise of parental rights is based on the idea of equally important role of both parents in the proper physical and mental development of the child and on the principle of parents' equality in relation to the child. In addition, joint custody endeavors to preserve the relationship between the child and the parent with whom it does not live. Therefore, the positive effects of joint custody reflect on all participants in the relation of parental rights. In the European legal space joint custody after divorce is exceptionally popular. However, since it was legalized in 2005, this form of parenting by divorced parents has not been sufficiently established in practice in the Republic of Serbia. Still, with the further insight into the advantages of the joint custody, it is reasonable to expect that parents will increasingly opt for this form of care. In addition, given the evolution of the model of joint care in comparative law, it is reasonable to conclude that in due course the presumption of joint exercise of parental rights after divorce will find its place in the Serbian legal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]