Family maintenance in private international law: Choosing between the UN Convention (1956) and the Hague Convention (2007)

Globalization and increased movement of people are a challenge for Private International Law. A proper legal regulation of cross-border dispute cases requires a higher degree of international cooperation. In the context of maintenance, it has generated the partnership of two world organizations, the Hague Conference on Private International Law and the United Nations, each of which has been dealing with this matter in its own way. The result of this cooperation is the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance (2007) which, in terms of relations between the Contracting States, replaces the United Nations Convention on the Recovery of Maintenance Abroad (1956). Bearing in mind that the Republic of Serbia is a member state of the 1956 UN Convention only, the paper discusses the need to ratify the 2007 Hague Convention. As compared to the New York Convention, the Hague Convention brings multiple benefits, including: the right to an effective access to procedures, the right to free legal assistance, establishment of diplomatic reciprocity regarding the recognition and enforcement of foreign decisions, well-organized and precisely regulated system of cooperation between the central authorities. Given that the Hague Convention has become part of acquis communautaries, the Serbian ratification of the Hague Maintenance Convention is even more significant