Principles of art in Serbian and European laws and stands of Christian orthodox church on art

In Serbia, Biomedically Assisted Fertilization is regulated by the Act on Treatment of Infertility with Biomedically Assisted Fertilization Procedures from 2009, and by the Family Act from 2005, the provisions on the family status of the child. In European context, the principles of the application of biology and medicine are regulated by the Council of Europe Convention from 1997 for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine (Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine). In this paper, Serbian law is compared with European law as well as the stands of Christian Orthodox Church which represents the dominant religion in Serbia. Comparison of principles stipulated in the Act and the Convention with the stands of the Christian Orthodox Church shows that domestic law, European law and stands of Christian Orthodox Church are based on similar grounds. It is the protection of human being, human dignity, and application of principle of medical justification. However, there is great difference of opinions when the question of acceptable and allowed procedures is raised. For example, there is an opinion that donor insemination is not in compliance with Christian Orthodox stands. On the contrary, positive law accepts donor insemination, both sperm and egg donations. As regards the surrogate motherhood, this is unacceptable for Orthodox Church and it is still not allowed in Serbia, but de lege ferenda it might be permitted in Serbia, as the Draft of Civil Code proposes that surrogate motherhood should be permitted and regulated by a new law.