Civil society organisations are concerned about the provisions contained in the Draft Law on Free Legal Aid, which directly affect the right to effective and equitable access to justice for all persons in need of this type of assistance. 

The Law on Free Legal Aid has been pending for more than 12 years. During this time, lawyers and attorneys-at-law engaged in civil society organisations have provided free legal aid and some even participated in the Working Group that produced the 2015 Draft. The provisions from the current Draft significantly deviate from the provisions proposed by free legal aid providers based on their extensive experience. 

Although the Ministry of Justice, at the time of publishing the latest Draft Law, announced that it had corrected the text amending it in accordance with the remarks submitted, the most important remarks made by the civil society organisations listed below, as decades-long providers of free legal aid, were not accepted.  

This relates primarily to the limited possibilities of legal aid provision by lawyers and attorneys-at-law engaged by CSOs, who have performed this activity, in absence of an adequate law, over the last 20 years. The Draft Law allows CSOs to provide free legal aid only on the basis of the Law on Asylum and the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, ignoring other laws, such as the Law on Public Information and Media, which also envisages this activity to be performed by CSOs. 

The Draft Law brings confusion to the existing legal provisions by introducing a very vague provision according to which attorneys-at-law shall provide free legal aid on behalf of the CSOs legally entitled to provide free legal aid. We recall that the Law on Civil Procedure stipulates that the legal representative of a party may be an attorney-at-law, relative or spouse, representative of free legal aid service, lawyer that passed the bar exam representing the legal entity in which he or she is employed, and a representative of a trade union. Moreover, the smallest part of free legal aid services are in-court representations or representations before state authorities, while most of them consist of free legal advice and filing submissions. 

Is Serbia so rich that it can afford to have attorneys-at-law provide all types of free legal aid - ranging from legal advice to representation, and will attorneys-at-law be able to respond to all the needs of free legal aid seekers? Instead of the state sharing the responsibility for free legal aid provision among all interested providers that would help each other in the best interest of the citizens of Serbia, the Ministry of Justice presents the Draft Law that will not be economically viable if adopted. 

The Draft Law directly discriminates against lawyers as service providers on the basis of the place of their employment or engagement. It is unclear why a lawyer employed in local self-government is allowed not only to provide free legal aid, but also to issue decisions granting the right to free legal aid, while a lawyer employed with social welfare centre, court, prosecutor’s office or CSO is not allowed to do so? 

This affects primarily the citizens in need of legal assistance because the Draft Law directly links the means test with the right to free legal aid equalising it with the means test for social assistance and the right to child allowance. This means that all individuals who do not fall into this category, or some of the categories specified in the law, shall be denied this type of assistance. 

It is unacceptable that a law whose purpose is to facilitate effective and equitable access to justice for the most vulnerable groups of citizens, in this case the Law on Free Legal Aid, limits this right by derogating the existing legal provisions and recognising the right to free legal aid to a small group of persons, while not allowing the provision of assistance by any CSO lawyers who have been performing this work for years.  

Civil society organisations involved in the protection of human rights do not request state funding for free legal aid activities, but they ask for allowing civil society organisations to continue providing free legal aid to a large group of citizens who need this kind of assistance in order to protect and exercise the rights guaranteed not only by the Constitution but also by numerous international documents, and above all the right to access justice. 

The statement is signed by: 

The Lawyers' Committee For Human Rights – YUCOM 

Civic Initiatives 

Belgrade Centre for Human Rights 

Policy Center 

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights 

Child Rights Center 

International Aid Network - IAN 

CHRIS - Network of the Committees for Human Rights in Serbia consisting of: 

- Committee for Human Rights Negotin 

- Committee for Human Rights Valjevo 

- Committee for Human Rights Bujanovac 

- Civic Forum Novi Pazar 

- Committee for Human Rights Niš 

Praxis 

Urban-In 

Citizen's Association FemPlatz 

Atina 

A 11 - Initiative for Economic and Social Rights 

Sandžak Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms 

Dijalog.net 

Association DUGA 

CRTA 

European Policy Centre - CEP 

Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina (IJAV) 

Women Support Center - SOS Vojvodina Network 

Western Balkans Institute 

Initiative for Development and Cooperation 

Gayten-LGBT 

Committee for Human Rights Vranje - SOS Hotline Vranje 

Association of Women Peščanik 

Centre for Human Rights Niš

Committee for Human Rights Leskovac

NGO ASTRA – Anti-trafficking Action

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Humanitarian Law Centre

Praxis sent an appeal to the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government to undertake measures within its jurisdiction to remove legal obstacles that prevent birth registration immediately after birth in case of children whose mothers do not possess personal documents.

Various international organizations and treaty bodies have also pointed to this problem in Serbia. Within the Third Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) concerning Serbia, the UN Human Rights Council gave, among others, a recommendation to the Republic of Serbia to ensure that all children born in Serbia have access to timely birth registration immediately after birth, without discrimination and regardless of the legal or documentation status of their parents.

The Republic of Serbia supported this recommendation. However, in order to implement it, it is necessary to change two by-laws (Rulebook on the procedure for the issuance of birth notification and form of the issuance of birth notification in a health care institution and the Instruction on administering registry books and forms of registry books) which hinder registration of all necessary data about children in the birth registry, including their personal names, in case when parents do not possess personal documents. This practically means that if the mother does not possess an ID card and a birth certificate, it will not be possible to determine personal name of the new-born when registering him/her in the birth registry. It will not be possible to register complete data about parents in the birth registry either. In other words, the child will not be registered in the birth registry immediately after birth; he/she will not be able to obtain a birth certificate, will be deprived of numerous rights and will remain legally invisible.

By amending these by-laws, which falls within the jurisdiction of the Minister in charge of public administration affairs, not only would the recommendation from the UPR be implemented, but the hierarchy of norms would be respected whereby the by-laws should be harmonized with legal norms of greater legal force. Specifically, Serbian Constitution, the Family Law and ratified international treaties all guarantee the right to birth registration and a personal name to every child, immediately after birth. 

Apart from the UN Human Rights Council, other international organizations and treaty bodies have also drawn attention to this problem (Concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in relation to the combined second and third periodic review of the Republic of Serbia; 2018 Report on Serbia by the European Commission). Furthermore, Serbia has committed to implement UN Sustainable Development Goals, one of them (SDG 16.9) being to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.

The fact that the situation in Serbia concerning access to right to birth registration is not satisfactory has also been emphasised in the Statelessness Index, which gives an overview of how different countries in Europe protect stateless persons and what they do in order to prevent and reduce statelessness. Even though Serbia received good review in relation to some aspects, the review was poor in relation to exercise of the right to timely birth registration of children in the birth registry books and in relation to prevention of statelessness of persons born in Serbia.

Apart from the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Praxis also appealed to the Ombudsperson to contribute to removing the stated legal obstacles within its scope of authority.

Praxis submitted the Initiative to the Constitutional Court of Serbia for assessment of the provisions of two by-laws that prevent registration of children in the birth registry immediately after birth in case when children’s parents do not possess personal documents.

These by-laws are the Rulebook on the procedure for the issuance of birth notification and form of the issuance of birth notification in a health care institution and the Instruction on administering registry books and forms of registry books, which provide for birth registration only of the new-born children whose mothers possess personal documents. For this reason, children whose mothers do not possess ID cards will not be able to obtain a birth certificate immediately after birth. Thus, they will be deprived of health care and social welfare services in the most vulnerable period of life, as well as of access to all rights the exercise of which is conditioned by the possession of personal documents. What is even more worrying is the fact that the problem of lack of documentation in Serbia almost exclusively affects members of the Roma ethnic minority, who are the most discriminated against and most marginalized population in Serbia.

In the stated Initiative, Praxis argues that the provisions of the by-laws are not in accordance with the provisions of the Serbian Constitution, the Family Law and ratified international conventions which guarantee the right to birth registration and personal name to every child, immediately after birth. Therefore, Praxis expects the Constitutional Court to initiate proceeding for constitutional review and to abolish the stated provisions of the by-laws. In this way, not only would the by-laws be harmonized with legal norms of greater legal force, but the impermissible practice that results in the violation of the basic human rights of the most vulnerable population in Serbia would be put to an end and new cases of legally invisible persons would be prevented.

In June, the number of refugees/migrants met and interviewed by Praxis’ mobile team did not exceed 150 on a daily basis, including the newly arrived ones, the refugees/migrants accommodated in the Asylum Centre Krnjača and the Reception Centre Obrenovac and those who returned to Belgrade after unsuccessful attempts to cross the Croatian, Hungarian, Bosnian or Romanian border. In this period, Praxis provided assistance to a total of 1598 refugees/migrants, through information, psychosocial support, referrals to the targeted assistance provided by various organisations/institutions or covering the costs of transport to the asylum and reception centres.

Praxis continued its field work and provided a total of 1294 newly arrived refugees and migrants (994 adults - 865 men and 129 women, and 300 children - 215 boys and 85 girls, including 145 potential unaccompanied and separated children (UASC), 143 boys and 2 girls) with relevant information.

Comparing to the previous period, there was a noticeable increase in the number of refugees/migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. In May, 167 refugees/migrants or 19.4% of them arrived from Iraq, while in June, this number increased to 252. In previous month, 114 (13.3%) refugees/migrants arrived from Afghanistan, while in June, this number increased to 248. As for the refugees/migrants from Pakistan, 191 refugees/migrants (22.2%) arrived in May, while in June, this number increased to 396. The refugees/migrants of other nationalities were from Bangladesh (27), Eritrea (6), India (4), Cameron (2), Libya (9), Ivory Coast (1), Romania (1), Somalia (17), Palestine (1) and Turkey (2). Refugees/migrants arrived to Serbia via Macedonia (808 or 62.4%), Bulgaria (227 or 17.5%), Croatia (12 or 0.9%), Hungary (2 or 0.2%) and Romania (1 or 0.1%), while 15 of them did not specify where they had entered Serbia and 229 refugees/migrants from Iran arrived by plane.

Download the whole Protection Monitoring Report here.

Praxis, the European Network on Statelessness, European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI) submitted Alternative Report to the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The report points to the difficulties faced by Roma women in Serbia in exercising their rights. Their position is particularly difficult as they are often victims of multiple discrimination on the basis of their gender and ethnicity. The report contains information about problems Roma women face in accessing rights to health care, social protection, education, employment. At the same time, it highlights the issue of child, early and forced marriages, which are disproportionately more frequent among the Roma population, but specifically affecting Roma women and girls. Besides, the report also points to the lack of an efficient system of free legal aid, which additionally hinders access to rights.

Particular attention in the report is dedicated to obstacles aggravating birth registration and acquisition of citizenship, while the emphasis is specifically put on the issue of discriminatory regulations which prevent Roma women who do not possess personal documents to register their new-born children in the birth registry. For this reason, these children are also left without citizenship and registered permanent residence in the most vulnerable period of their life, and, consequently, the possibility to exercise rights to health and social insurance, as well as other rights for the exercise of which it is required to possess personal documents.

Finally, the joint submission also provides recommendations to the Committee for achieving equality and preventing discrimination of Roma women.

You can download the report HERE.

The statement taken form the website of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

The sitting was co-organized with the Roma Women’s Centre “Bibija” as part of the campaign Month of Roma Women’s Activism.

Opening the sitting, the Chairman of the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality Meho Omerovic said that the Roma population faces a slew of problems some of which are especially difficult because they hit the most vulnerable among the population – children. Early marriages among children are a violation of some of the most basic human rights such as the right to education, protection of reproductive health, selection of partners and above all the right to a childhood, said Omerovic. He stressed that children, especially little girls, who marry early (aged 11, 12 or 13) do not have many chances for a happy, healthy and successful life and neither do their children. This problem should be at the very top of our priorities and the state of Serbia needs to define measures and activities to suppress child marriages, said Omerovic. The Committee Chairman said that the Council of Europe has recognized the country and local self-governments’ efforts to resolve this problem and Nis, Horgosz and Cantavir have been presented as best practice examples of Roma inclusion in the local community.

Assistant Minister of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs Nina Mitic said that early marriages (before the age of 16) are a severe violation of child rights and a criminal offense. She listed the laws that protect child rights and combat child marriages. Mitic also pointed out the role of social work centres, the police and educational institutions in the protection of child rights and preventive action against child marriages.

Dr Nenad Ivanisevic, member of the Coordinating Body monitoring the realization of the Roma Social Inclusion Strategy, said that many nations used to have early pre-arranged marriages but with the rise in educational level of the population these had become unacceptable in most communities, so raising the educational level of the Roma population is vital. He said this was a long process because it means changing the lifestyle of a community.

UNICEF Deputy Representative Severine Leonardi said that 23 girls below the age of 18 get married every minute in the world. In Serbia, this mainly happens in rural and the poorest communities, generally among the Roma population, said Leonardi stressing that over 50% of Roma girls get married before the age of majority. Change can be initiated through cooperation between the Government and NGOs, private sector and the Roma community and it is very important to empower every Roma girl and offer support to every family through the social welfare system, Severine Leonardi concluded.

Representative of CARE International Sarajevo Jadranka Milicevic briefed the attending on the regional project the organization’s been conducted for six years now in cooperation with Roma organizations: “Active inclusion and rights of Roma women in Western Balkans”.

The representative of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade Vera Kurtic reminded the attending of the most comprehensive international document - the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence which was ratified by the National Assembly in 2013. Vulnerable and marginalized, Roma women are at an especially high risk of violence, said Kurtic. She also mentioned project ROMACTED co-conducted by the EU and CoE in 11 cities and municipalities in Serbia which promotes the integration of Roma into the local community.

Jelena Jovanovic, Deputy President of the National Council of the Roma National Minority, said that Roma women are the most vulnerable and sensitive group of women in our society and their education and schooling is the course to follow to open up their prospects for a dignified life, education and health protection.

Coordinator of Roma Women’s Centre “Bibija” Slavica Vasic presented her organization’s activities and campaigns. She stressed that hands-on work with Roma women in the field is of paramount importance.

The representative of the Roma Women Network Radmila Nesic and member of SASA Institute of Ethnography Dr Ivan Djordjevic presented the results of research “Child marriages in the Roma population in Serbia”, conducted March - June 2017 in 5 locations in Serbia, where in depth interviews provided an insight into the real life of the Roma community. The research showed that reducing and finally eradicating child marriages has to be a joint task, enterprise and effort undertaken by all the social factors - social work services, education system, the population, and even individuals.

In the course of the debate the participants agreed that child marriages are a dangerous phenomenon and that education, as the key to the empowerment and protection of Roma children’s rights, is vital for the prevention of child marriages.

Concluding the sitting, Committee Chairman Meho Omerovic said that the Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality would continue to pay special attention to this topic and added that we must all work together to empowering the Roma community, implementing laws and raising public awareness of the problem of child marriages.

Praxis presented its activities focused on prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages and pointed at the presence of discriminatory acting on all levels. Praxis also highlighted the necessity to raise awareness of all relevant actors - parents, children, professionals and wider public, with an active role of media as drivers of change.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Meho Omerovic and attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Nikola Jolovic, Milanka Jevtic Vukojicic, Ljibuska Lakatos, Milena Turk, Ljiljana Malusic, Vesna Ivkovic, Tomislav Zigmanov and Elvira Kovacs, as well as MPs Milena Corilic, Nada Lazic and Gordana Comic.

See the video here.

At the end of May 2018, Praxis held a consultative meeting with the representatives of institutions in Novi Pazar on the prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages (CEFM), as part of the activities performed within the project “Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia”, funded by UNHCR.

The meeting was aimed at gathering the representatives of all relevant institutions in Novi Pazar to draft policies for the eradication of CEFM. The meeting was attended by the representatives of social welfare centre, police, school, health centre and civil society. At the beginning, the participants were thoroughly introduced into the CEFM problem and through a brief introduction into the activities performed by Praxis in the field of prevention and elimination of CEFM, they were acquainted with the main findings gained so far. Afterwards, Praxis’ representative gave a brief presentation about national and international legislation governing the area of CEFM with a reference to the responsibilities of the government in the prevention and elimination of CEFM. A special contribution was given by National Anti-Trafficking Coordinator at Republic of Serbia Mitar Djuraskovic, who talked about CEFM problem in the context of human trafficking. During the following discussion when case studies were analysed, the participants talked about what each of us can and have to do, and what we expect from other relevant actors, so as to prevent CEFM as a statelessness related issue. In that regard, the participants were introduced into the Statelessness Index, which gives an overview of how different countries in Europe protect stateless persons and what they do in order to prevent and reduce statelessness.

One of the conclusions of the discussion is that competent institutions do not cooperate sufficiently and in a coordinated manner. Moreover, they usually transfer their responsibilities to another institution. Even though the professionals are aware that CEFM represent the violation of children’s rights and gender based violence, they are still insufficiently sensitive to the problems of Roma population. In addition, due to stereotypical acting led by prejudices, the CEFM problem is still considered as part of Roma cultural tradition. According to the present professionals, teaching staff fail to report the CEFM problem because they do not want to hold against their acquaintances, i.e. parents of those children. The final conclusion of the discussion was that more coherent cooperation of competent institutions is a necessity, as well as constant awareness-raising among all relevant stakeholders – parents, children, professionals and general public, and active presence of media as key actors. It is necessary to continue with educations, both through group discussion and individual interviews with professional and potential victims of child, early and forced marriages and their parents.  

By the end of 2018, Praxis will organize three consultative meetings, one in Pozarevac and two in Belgrade.

Open Society Justice Initiative and Namati, in cooperation with UNHCR, developed a Community-Based Practitioner’s Guide: Documenting Citizenship and Other Forms of Legal Identity. This guide was developed in response to the growing recognition of the opportunity for community-based justice actors to assist individuals and communities suffering from a lack of documentation of citizenship or other forms of proof of legal identity.

Today, 1.1 billion people around the world lack legal identity documentation. Without it, they cannot vote, access healthcare, or go to school—and are at risk of becoming stateless. Entire communities—especially the poor and members of minority groups—may lack documentation, leaving them legally and politically invisible. The lack of effective citizenship prevents millions from realizing their rights and reaching their full potential.

Unfortunately, gaining access to legal identity documents can be difficult or even impossible. In theory, governments should provide documents to their citizens, but in reality, the process is complicated by burdensome bureaucracies, distant offices, and even discriminatory officials.

Based on the experiences of dozens of existing projects, and drawing on lessons from across the globe, this guide provides step-by-step instructions on establishing a paralegal or other community-based program to help people obtain legal identity documents. An essential tool for practitioners, it uses case studies, infographics, and copies of actual forms to guide the reader through the process of documenting citizenship and other forms of legal identity.

Praxis took active part in drafting and finalizing the Guide. Praxis’ Executive Director Ivanka Kostic first participated in a two-day workshop on the Toolkit for paralegal projects on civil status documentation, nationality and citizenship rights, that was held in London in August 2017, providing comments, recommendations and sharing Praxis experiences on the issue, and also provided written inputs to the  final version of the Guide. 

National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Law on Amendments to the Law on Registry Books on 20 June 2018. The new law will enter into force on 1 January 2019.

On this occasion, an opportunity was missed to resolve the problem of birth registration of children whose mothers do not possess personal documents. Specifically, two by-laws that regulate the procedure of birth notification and registration in the birth registry book contain provisions that prevent registration of all data on the new-born children immediately after birth, including children’s names, if their mothers do not possess personal documents.

This actually means that these children will not have a birth certificate in the most vulnerable part of their lives and, consequently, they will be left without the possibility to exercise rights to health care or social protection. In Serbia, this problem almost exclusively affects members of Roma ethnic minority and only further aggravates their already difficult position.

Not only is such a state unsustainable from a human rights perspective, but it also shows that there is a severe anomaly in the Serbian legal system, since the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and ratified international conventions guarantee the right to every child to be registered immediately after birth. For this reason, many international organizations and treaty bodies have emphasised in their recommendations and reports that Serbia should ensure that every child is registered immediately after birth, regardless of the status of child's parents. Serbia also received bad review relating to exercise of the right to timely birth registration of children in the Statelessness Index, which gives an overview of how different countries in Europe protect stateless persons and what they do in order to prevent and reduce statelessness.

During the public debate on the draft law, Praxis requested that a provision be included in the law that would oblige the registrars to register a child in the birth registry regardless of whether child's parents possess personal documents. Unfortunately, this suggestion was not accepted.

Although an opportunity was missed to include in the law a provision that would guarantee registration of every child immediately after birth, this problem could still be solved through amendments of the above-mentioned by-laws which hinder birth registration of children whose parents do not possess personal documents, and Praxis will continue to advocate for these amendments. In this way, not only would new cases of legally invisible persons be prevented, but it would also ensure respect of one of the basic principle of the legal system, i.e. the hierarchy of norms, by which by-laws must be harmonized with legal norms of greater legal force.