With the support of ODHIR/ Best Practices for Roma Integration in the Western Balkans (BPRI) and UNHCR Representation in Serbia, Praxis organized a Joint Workshop of the Western Balkans Legal Aid Network (WeBLAN) and the European Network on Statelessness (ENS) on 23 April 2013 in Belgrade. The aim of the workshop was to contribute to solving the problem of stateless persons in the territory of the Western Balkans through analysis of statelessness in the countries in the region, promotion of international standards and exchange of experience and good practice examples.

Preparing for the workshop, WeBLAN members filled in a research template on statelessness, previously designed and defined in cooperation with the ENS representatives. Analysis of national legislation and situation in practice was carried out for each country in the region in order to examine the proportions of the problem of exercise of the right to a nationality and to establish which persons or groups were at risk of statelessness. An additional aim was to establish whether respective national legislations contained protection mechanisms suitable for preventing the occurrence of statelessness and to identify whether national laws contained relevant regulations or provisions that could provide adequate treatment and access to basic rights to stateless persons. Finally, the research examined the activities, initiatives or new tendencies significant for exercise of the right to a nationality, as well as engagement of state bodies aimed at solving the existing problems.

Following the introductory part of the workshop dedicated to presenting both networks and their goals and activities, WeBLAN member organizations gave their respective overviews of the most significant aspects of the stated research during the session dedicated to discrimination and statelessness. The conducted research showed that the causes of statelessness were similar in all countries of the region, that they mostly referred to failure to register the fact of birth or were a result of break-up of former Yugoslavia and migrations. Majority of persons who were not registered in birth registries or were of undetermined nationality belong to Roma population, while the statistical data on their number were either unavailable or imprecise and mostly relied on estimates of UNHCR or research of non-governmental organizations. With regard to compliance with the most important international and regional instruments, it was established that all the countries were signatories to the Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons or contained provisions in their national legislation which were in accordance with the Convention. On the other hand, the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness had been ratified only by Croatia and Serbia, while the European Convention on Nationality had been ratified only by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro. Furthermore, a joint characteristic of all countries was lack of a statelessness determination procedure which also posed an obstacle for obtaining identification documents and access to rights guaranteed to this category of persons. Finally, the level of engagement of relevant state bodies and initiatives directed at solving the problem of persons at risk of statelessness varied from one country to another. A good practice example was the introduction of a court procedure for determination of time and place of birth in Serbia and singing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, Ombudsperson and UNHCR with an aim to implement actual activities for resolving the problem of persons at risk of statelessness in Serbia.

During the second part of the workshop, ENS representatives gave their presentations on the issues relating to nationality, prevention of statelessness and reduction of the number of stateless persons, statelessness status determination and protection of stateless persons, strategic litigation and international advocacy for resolving the problem of statelessness. Observing the notion of statelessness, definition and concept of protection of stateless persons, it was pointed to the importance of correct understanding and defining the concept of stateless persons. Through short case studies, the most significant aspects of the definition of stateless persons were analysed and the guidelines given for their interpretation, especially in the context of when a person is not considered a citizen in accordance with the law and practice of a state. The concept of a person at risk of statelessness was particularly considered and, based on the given data from the conducted research, the existing protection mechanisms and their efficiency in terms of prevention of statelessness were analysed at the same time. Bearing in mind that none of the countries in the region has statelessness determination procedure, ENS representatives also presented the existing statelessness determination procedures at the European level, pros and cons of the legal solutions in effect, and, at the same time, provided arguments for organizations in the region that could be used when advocating for introduction of this procedure in their respective countries. Furthermore, in the context of protection of stateless persons, the significance of strategic litigation in this field was also considered and the most significant cases from the practice of the European Court of Human Rights presented. Finally, there was also a discussion about the importance of advocacy activities for resolving the problem of stateless persons at the international and regional level.

The workshop was attended by a total of 44 participants, representatives of WeBLAN member organizations, representatives of the ENS, the representatives of UNHCR offices from BiH, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo and Italy, representatives of BPRI, OSCE Mission to Serbia, Italian Refugee Council and organization Tirana Legal Aid Society, Albania.

Presentations:
ENS, presentation of Chris Nash
ENS, presentation of Laura van Waas
ENS, presentation of Amal de Chickera
ENS, presentation of Gábor Gyulai
ENS, presentation of Maxim Ferschtman
WeBLAN, presentation of Naim Osmani, CRP Kosovo

See:
Blog by Ivanka Kostic
Blog by Laura van Waas
News on BPRI web site

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