The report Access to Social Protection and Health Care for Vulnerable Groups in South Serbia has been prepared as part of the NGO Praxis project under the same title, financed by the Fondation Caritas Luxembourg. The project activities were carried out in the period from 1 December 2012 to 31 May 2013 in the seven municipalities of the Pcinja District (Vranje, Bujanovac, Vladicin Han, Surdulica, Trgoviste, Presevo and Bosilegrad).

The aim of the report is to provide a thorough insight in the situation regarding access to rights in the field of social protection and health care for vulnerable population groups in the southern municipalities. Data presented in the report have been obtained directly from the persons belonging to especially vulnerable groups, such as the Roma and internally displaced persons, but also from the meetings with representatives of institutions responsible for making decisions on socio-economic rights, and from the training delivered to Roma activists and civil society organisations. Considerable information has been obtained through providing legal assistance in individual cases of exercise of the aforementioned rights.

Download the report Access to Social Protection and Health Care for Vulnerable Groups in South Serbia

Download: HERE

Download: HERE

Based on the decision of the Constitutional Court of Serbia (CCS), the citizens will not need to have a bar-admitted lawyer in the civil procedure. Specifically, USS has abolished the provisions of the Law on Civil Procedure referring to mandatory hiring of a lawyer before the court and the system of collective complaints of citizens.

Danilo Curcic, legal analyst in Praxis, one of NGOs that required the assessment of the constitutionality of the provisions of the Law on Civil Procedure, said for daily Danas that CCS decision is extremely important for exercise of the right to access to justice of all citizens of Serbia.

Read in Danas.

Only after an employee of the Social Welfare Centre Novi Beograd verbally rejected to initiate the procedure for registration of residence at the address of the Social Welfare Centre for S.B., did the client address the Centre in writing with the request for registration at the address of the Centre. In addition, Praxis presented the case to Technical Group by pointing to illegal acting of the employee. Consequently, the registration of the permanent residence was approved to S.B., who had been deprived of that possibility for being the resident of the informal settlement.

See the announcement: Registration of Permanent Residence at the Address of Social Welfare Centre Novi Beograd – Unlawful Acting

On 10 April 2013, a seminar on birth registration, access to rights and protection against discrimination was held in Pozarevac for representatives and activists of Roma associations and organizations, Roma coordinators, health mediators and pedagogical assistants from Arandjelovac, Velika Plana, Kucevo, Veliko Gradiste, Smederevska Palanka, Smederevo, Kostolac and Pozarevac. The seminar, which was attended by 26 participants, was organized by Praxis within the project Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia, funded by UNHCR.

Through presentation of cases and legal solutions in effect, Praxis representatives presented the possibilities for exercise and protection of status and socioeconomic rights. Afterwards, the participants discussed the problems they encounter in practice and exchanged experiences related to proceeding of competent services and bodies. It was pointed to individual cases of discrimination, suggestions were presented for overcoming the situations in which discriminatory proceeding threatens dignity of members of Roma national minority or hinders their access to basic human rights. The participants emphasised the usefulness of the conducted seminar, but it was also pointed to the need to undertake measures to additionally motivate Roma population, both in terms of acquainting them with available mechanisms for protection of their rights and in terms of readiness to take actual steps towards improvement of living conditions of the entire Roma community. At the end of the seminar, the participants were awarded certificates.

See: Agenda

The seminar on registration in birth registry books, access to rights and protection from discrimination was organized by UNHCR and Praxis for representatives and activists of Roma associations and organizations, Roma coordinators, health mediators and pedagogic assistants in the Centre of Professional Development (Municipality of Sabac) on 4 March 2013. The seminar was attended by 31 participants from Sabac, Koceljeva, Loznica, Bogatic, Krupanj, Macvanska Mitrovica, Ruma and Sremska Mitrovica. Praxis organized the seminar with an aim to realize the project Legal Aid to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia funded by UNHCR.

Praxis representatives tried through the analysis of cases from practice to familiarize the present with the most significant problems related to registration in birth registry books. It was pointed at the importance of the registration of child birth and subsequent birth registration of persons who failed to register on time. The court procedure for determination of time and place of birth envisaged by the Law on Amendments to the Law on Non-Contentious Procedure was thoroughly presented. In the same manner, the issues related to citizenship, registration of permanent and temporary residence, and circumstances of the possibility to access other rights – conditioned by the registration in birth registry books and possession of citizenship. The subject of presentation was also the familiarization with the mechanism of protection against discrimination. The identification of discrimination in concrete situations was presented through the simulation of cases. The mechanisms of protection of rights and manners in which they can be used were presented in a simple way with an aim to affirm the confirmation about their availability and expediency.

The possibilities of exercise and protection of rights from the stated area were presented through the interactive presentation of cases and positive legal solutions. In the final part of the seminar, the participants discussed about the problems encountered in practice and exchanged experiences in acting of competent bodies in implementation of applicable regulations. The seminar ended by awarding certificates to the participants.

See: Agenda

On the occasion of beginning of work on the Draft Law on Free Legal Aid, the Coalition for Access to Justice and civil society organizations express their hope that, after more than six years since the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, the citizens will finally be able to efficiently enjoy the constitutional right to legal aid.

We demand from the State to adhere to established European and other international standards in defining the circle of legal aid providers, the standards that do not allow monopolization of provision of legal aid services. According to those standards, new legal solutions in this field would have to enable provision of legal aid by the widest circle of providers traditionally including non-governmental organizations, trade unions, professional associations and legal clinics.

Article 67, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution is often interpreted in a way that suggests that the right to provision of legal aid services pertains solely to Bar-admitted lawyers and legal aid services organized within the local self-government units. Contrary to such interpretation, we emphasize that the stated provision of the Constitution only defines a circle of those who are obliged to provide legal aid, while it does not forbid others to provide this service as well.

We emphasise that non-governmental organizations, trade unions, professional associations and legal clinics have been successfully providing legal aid to the widest circle of beneficiaries for decades, especially to the victims of violations of basic human rights, work related rights, rights from marriage and family relations.  Bearing in mind their extensive experience, achieved results, level of recognition and the developed trust of citizens, it would be completely unjustified and unreasonable to exclude them from the circle of legal aid providers, and it would also lower the achieved level of respect and protection of human rights which is contrary to the Constitution.

We demand from the State to fully respect the achieved level of respect and protection of human rights in drafting the Law on Free Legal Aid, especially in defining the circle of legal aid providers, and to establish the system of legal aid that is in accordance with European and other international standards.


Coalition for Access to Justice:
Centre for Advanced Legal Studies
Civil Rights Defenders
CHRIS – the Network of Committees for Human Rights in Serbia (Human Rights Committee Nis, Human Rights Committee Valjevo, Human Rights Committee Negotin, Vojvodina Centre for Human Rights Novi Sad, Citizens' Forum Novi Pazar)
Humanitarian Law Centre
Youth Initiative for Human Rights
Independent Journalists' Association of Vojvodina
Sandzak Committee for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms
Praxis

You can see the announcement of the Coalition for Access to Justice and the list of signatories HERE.

On 11 March 2013, the seminar on registration in birth registry book, access to rights and protection against discrimination was held in Vrsac for 26 participants – representatives and activists of Roma associations and organizations, Roma coordinators, health mediators and pedagogical assistants from Pancevo, Jabuka, Kovin, Zrenjanin, Alibunar, Ilandza, Nikolinac, Bela Crkva and Vrsac. The seminar was organized within the project Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia, implemented by Praxis and funded by UNHCR.

After presentations of Praxis representatives on the above stated subjects, the mechanisms of exercise and protection of rights were described through the interactive presentation of cases and positive legal solutions.

In the final part of the seminar, the participants discussed about the problems encountered in practice and also exchanged experience in acting of competent services and bodies in the implementation of applicable regulations.

There was also a discussion about the cases of discrimination and some discriminatory procedures that affected pupils of Roma nationality in schools in the region. The participants were highly interested and took an active approach to subjects they discussed about and showed willingness to cooperate.

See: Dnevni red

Only after ten months from Praxis submission of an appeal and following an urgency letter for not proceeding upon the appeal did the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy respond that there was no legal basis for amendment of the existing Rulebook on Work Booklet but only for adoption of a new one. The Ministry also informed us that they would take Praxis appeal into consideration in the procedure of the adoption of a new Rulebook.

In its notice, the Ministry emphasised that a person who had found employment in the place of his/her temporary residence, but did not possess a work booklet, could address the competent body in his/her place of employment for issuance of a work booklet, and that the work booklet was not a precondition for employment. However, the Ministry completely ignored the fact that the possession of a work booklet is a precondition for registering with the National Employment Service (NES) and that persons who do not possess this document cannot receive help in finding employment or benefit from any other service of the NES. The Ministry also stated that there were initiatives to abolish the work booklet. However, this has not happened, the new Rulebook has not been adopted and the disputable provision of the present Rulebook is still in force and it either prevents or hinders refugees’ and IDPs’ chances to obtain a work booklet.

To remind ourselves, on 2 February 2012 Praxis submitted and Appeal to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy for amendment of the Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the Rulebook on Work Booklet (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 17/97). According to Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the Rulebook, an unemployed person submits a request for issuance of a work booklet to the competent municipal administration body in his/her place of permanent residence, while the employed person submits the same request in the place of his/her employment. Consistent application of this article results in unemployed refugees and IDPs having to travel to their place of permanent residence to submit a request for issuance of a work booklet, which is an insurmountable problem for them. The stated provision of the Rulebook indirectly discriminates against refugees and IDPs because it deprives them of or hinders their exercise of the right to work booklet. As a result, they cannot be beneficiaries of the programmes and services of the NES.

The stated appeal suggests amendment of the Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the Rulebook on Work Booklet in a way so as to extend the territorial jurisdiction for submission of a request for issuance of work booklet to the competent administrative body in the submitter’s place of temporary residence.

See: Appeal for amendment of Article 5, Paragraph 1 of the Rulebook on Work Booklet
See: Response from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy