CHAPTER XXI.

SERVIA.

Servia is a kingdom in the northwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula. In 1882 it became a constitutional monarchy. The judiciary is vested in a High Court of Appeal, a Court of Cassation, a Commercial Court and twenty-three courts of the first instance.

The Servian laws of marriage and divorce are substantially the same as those of the Orthodox Greek Church. All marital suits in which one or both parties belong to this church are governed by State law, although jurisdiction lies with the ecclesiastical courts. Matters pertaining to property settlement are, however, entirely within the jurisdiction of the civil courts, as are all marital suits in which neither party belongs to the Greek Church.

When the parties to a marital suit are Roman Catholics decisions are rendered according to the canon law; and when both parties are Protestants, according to the principles of the sect to which the parties belong.

In the case of a mixed marriage of others than adherents of the Greek Church the decision is rendered according to the principles of the church in which the marriage was celebrated.

MARRIAGE QUALIFICATIONS.--A man cannot marry until he has completed his seventeenth year; a woman until she has completed her fifteenth year of age. By the dispensation of the church, granted by a bishop, a man of fifteen years or a woman of thirteen years may conclude marriage.

The free consent of both parties is essential to a valid marriage.

If both the contracting parties are over eighteen years of age parental consent to a marriage is not obligatory. Where both parties are under eighteen years, or the intended bride is under that age and the intended bridegroom is under twenty-one years, the consent of parents is necessary.

All persons are forbidden to contract a new marriage until a previous existing marriage has been dissolved or judicially declared a nullity.

CONSANGUINITY AND AFFINITY.--Marriage is prohibited between relatives by blood in the direct line and in the collateral line as far as the eighth degree, inclusive--that is to say, as far as the degree of relationship of third cousins. Relatives in the seventh or eighth degree may marry by episcopal dispensation. Marriage is prohibited between relatives by marriage as far as the fifth degree, inclusive.

Marriage is prohibited between persons spiritually related, as between the godparent and the godchild or his descendants.

IMPEDIMENTS.--Persons who have been judicially condemned for adultery are forbidden to contract marriage with their accomplices in the offence.

The party declared guilty in a suit for divorce is prohibited from marrying again during the lifetime of the innocent party.

A woman may not, as a rule, marry again until nine months after the dissolution by death or divorce of her previous marriage.

Insane persons cannot contract a binding marriage.

Incurable impotence of either party, which existed at the time the marriage was concluded, is cause for a decree of nullity.

Marriage is expressly forbidden between Christians and Jews or between Christians and non-Christians of any sect whatever.

Marriage is prohibited between two persons one of whom has attempted the life of the husband or wife of the other.

A lawful marriage cannot be concluded with a woman who has been abducted and has not yet been restored to freedom.

Marriage cannot be concluded by a person who is under sentence to imprisonment.

PRELIMINARIES.--Before the marriage the parish priest must, on three successive holy days, publish banns in the church, and if any member of the parish knows of any impediment it is his or her duty to inform the priest. If a priest fails thus to publish banns, and impediments later appear, he is amenable to punishment.

CELEBRATION.--The law of Servia does not recognize a civil marriage. If the parties, or one of them, belong to the Orthodox Greek Church they must be married according to the rites of that church. Christians of other sects must be married by their clergy and Jews by their authorized ministers.

CHILDREN.--Marriage of the parents subsequent to their birth renders illegitimate children fully legitimate.

ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGE.--A marriage may be declared null by a decree of a court of competent jurisdiction whenever it appears that some essential qualification to make the marriage valid was absent at the time it was concluded, or if it appears that the marriage was concluded in disregard of the impediments stated by law.

ABSOLUTE DIVORCE.--A complete divorce from the marriage bond is allowed by the courts for the following causes:

1. Adultery of either party.

2. Attempt by either spouse to kill the other.

3. The concealment by one spouse of information concerning a plot to kill the other spouse.

4. Penal servitude incurred by either spouse, under a sentence of at least eight years.

5. Apostasy from the Christian religion.

6. Deliberate desertion persisted in for three years.

7. Flight from Servia followed by absence of at least four years.

8. Absence without news for six years.

A decree of divorce or a decree annulling a marriage must always be submitted for the approval or disapproval of the ecclesiastical courts.

EFFECTS OF DIVORCEMENT.--The innocent party to a divorce suit may contract a new marriage, but the guilty party is forbidden to remarry during the lifetime of the innocent party.

Usually each party regains such goods and effects as he or she brought to the alliance.

CUSTODY OF CHILDREN.--Boys under four years and girls under seven are given, as a rule, to the mother's custody. After that they are given to the custody of the father.

The divorced woman must not continue to use the surname of her ex-husband.

JUDICIAL SEPARATION.--A separation from bed and board may be granted by the court whenever the facts show such a decree to best promote the interests and well-being of the spouses.