Advance Directives are not regulated by any specific law in Serbia and t here is not any particular bill regarding ADs.

A competent patient in Serbia has a right to refuse any kind of medical treatment even that of life saving or life sustaining. The law does not recognize possibility of making an anticipatory choice for oneself (living will) but allows appointing another person to make proxy choices when the need arises.

Thus, the Health Care Act of 2005 [ Zakon o zdravstvenoj zaštiti ] introduces the possibility of appointing a healthcare proxy in case of incompetence. Article 320(4) “A patient is entitled to designate a health care surrogate who will consent to treatment on the patient’s behalf or instead of the patient will be informed about health care measures to be performed, in the event the patient is unable to decide on consent”.

The text of the original Health Care Act of 2005 [ Zakon o zdravstvenoj zaštiti] can be found in the following link:

http://www.parlament.sr.gov.yu/content/cir/akta/akta_detalji.asp?Id=310&t=Z#