As of 1 September 2010, Praxis will be implementing a project entitled “Contribution to Sustainability of Return of Roma from Sweden and Other Countries in Europe to Serbia”, funded by the Swedish Migration Board. The Project lasts until 31 August 2010. It is aimed at raising awareness and empowering returnees upon readmission agreements, voluntary returnees and wider Roma population in Serbia to access and protect their rights in Serbia and become fully included and integrated in Serbian society.

At the same time, the Project is aimed at sensitizing relevant stakeholders, both at the local and national level, about the problems of this population and instigating them to jointly work on facilitating access of this vulnerable group to their basic rights. In addition to information campaign addressing representatives of authorities and institutions and information sessions for Roma returnees and wider Roma population about their rights, the Project also includes provision of free legal assistance, information and counselling to returnees from Sweden and other countries in Europe in relation to obtaining documents from registry books, civil registration procedure in case persons are not registered in Serbian registry books, registration of residence and access to basic socio-economic rights (rights to social welfare, health care, education, employment, immediate cash assistance, accommodation, etc).

Praxis was one of the organizations which supported the Petition for the adoption of a new Law on People's (Civil) Initiative. The Petition was delivered to Mr Milan Markovic, Minister for Public Administration and Local Self-Government.

 Download (Serbian only): Petition for Adoption of the Law on People's Initiative

On 29 June 2011, Praxis started implementing the project European Good Practices – Advocacy Tool in Serbia financed by the European Union within the project Support to Civil Society. In the period of ten months, by 28 April 2012, Praxis will carry out the project in cooperation with Heinrich Böll Foundation, Regional Centre for Minorities and Dokukino.

The objective of the project is to contribute to finding systemic solutions in line with the European practices, which would enable the unimpeded enjoyment of the right to be recognized as a person before the law, with a special focus on the procedure of the registration in the birth registry book, and the housing right to the members of the Roma population.

At the same time, the project will be also focused on sensitizing the professional and general public on these issues by advocating for the solutions on both national and local level with an aim to guarantee the equal enjoyment of rights to all citizens of Serbia.

The European Network on Statelessness started as a joint initiative of Asylum Aid, the Equal Rights Trust, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, the Open Society Justice Initiative, Praxis, and the Statelessness Programme at Tilburg University.

The Steering Committee of the Network met in July 2011 for the first time. Now, eleven months later, we are proud to officially launch this initiative.

The European Network on Statelessness encourages regional and international institutions to address statelessness within their respective mandates. We also urge countries in the region to adopt policies to prevent and reduce statelessness, and to provide protection to stateless persons.

In order to build capacity among policy makers and civil society organisations in Europe, the Network provides training and expert advice, as well as a forum for dedicated research, monitoring and exchange of information on statelessness.

The European Network on Statelessness is open to non-governmental organisations, research centres, academics and other individuals.

Download: European Network Statelessness Launch Announcement

In accordance with the Amendments to the Law on Registry Books (Official Gazette of Republic of Serbia, No. 57/2003), that came into effect on June 7, 2003, the registry books dislocated from the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija have been administered by the administrative organs of the following cities and municipalities:

• The City of Nis (registry books dislocated from the municipalities: Pristina, Podujevo, Glogovac, Obilic, Lipljan and Kosovo Polje);
• The City of Kragujevac (registry books dislocated from the municipalities: Pec, Istok and Klina);
• The Municipality of Kraljevo (registry books dislocated from the municipalities: Kosovska Mitrovica, Srbica, Zubin Potok, Vucitrn, Zvecan and Leposavic);
• The Municipality of Krusevac (registry books dislocated from the municipalities: Prizren, Orahovac, Suva Reka i Gora);
• The Municipality of Jagodina (registry books dislocated from the municipalities: Djakovica and Decani);
• The Municipality of Vranje (registry books dislocated from the municipalities: Gnjilane, Vitina, Kosovska Kamenica i Novo Brdo);
• The Municipality of Leskovac (registry books dislocated from the municipalities: Urosevac, Kacanik, Stimlje i Strpce).

Some police stations in Serbia refuse to register temporary residence of IDPs from Kosovo, allegedly on the basis of an internal instruction issued by the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia in 2003. Instead of registering IDPs’ temporary residence they instruct them to submit requests for registering permanent residence in Serbia.

According to the information that Praxis obtained in the field recently, the Police Station in Bujanovac refuses the IDPs’ requests for registration of temporary residence. Allegedly, they have not been receiving requests since 2003, on the basis of internal instruction of the responsible Ministry. Due to such practice of the police IDPs accommodated in the officially registered Collective Centre “Salvatore” in Bujanovac are prevented from obtaining IDP status. Even those parents who do have IDP status are not allowed to register temporary residence of their children born in Serbia.

The Police Station in Sabac also refuses the IDPs’ requests for registration of temporary residence. Unlike the Police Station in Bujanovac, the Police Station in Sabac even refuses to issue new certificates on registered temporary residence to IDPs who have lost such certificates.

The practice of the Police Station in Stari Grad, Belgrade, is the same and based on the internal instruction of the responsible Ministry.

Such practice of the competent bodies contravenes both domestic and international regulations, and deprives IDPs from exercising their fundamental human rights.

Every internally displaced person has the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his or her residence (UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Principle 14).

The citizens are obliged to report changes in their permanent and temporary residence (Article 2 of the Law on Permanent and Temporary Residence of Citizens, "Official Gazette of the Socialist Republic of Serbia", No. 42/77 – revised text, 24/85, 6/89 and 25/89 and "Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia", No. 53/93, 67/93, 48/94 and 101/2005 – other laws …).

Download: IDPs Deprived of Temporary Residence Registration

Internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija face major obstacles in obtaining excerpts from the birth, marriage, death and citizenship registry books dislocated from Kosovo to several towns in Southern and Central Serbia. In the period from June 1999 - June 2003, these registry books were administered by the registry offices dislocated from Kosovo to Serbia. Since June 2003 the registry offices in Serbia (Nis, Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Krusevac, Jagodina, Vranje and Leskovac) have been in charge of the administration of the registry books for the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.

In 2002, the Norwegian Refugee Council's Civil Rights Project (NRC/CRP) began providing assistance to IDPs with the obtaining of documents. At first, NRC/CRP addressed registry offices by mail, sending the requests for obtaining IDPs' registry book excerpts (with the receipts on paid administrative fees enclosed), because the places of IDPs' temporary residence/exile in Serbia were often located far from the registry offices. Since at that time the registry offices had not been answering the requests received by mail, this practice has been changed and the requests were submitted personally by NRC/CRP staff members authorized by IDPs through powers of attorney. The aim of such practice was to speed up the procedure of obtaining documents and to avoid IDPs' travel expenses; especially taking into consideration the fact that often IDPs did not succeed in obtaining documents and were not instructed on further steps in cases of not being registered into registry books or in cases of missing registry books or books left in Kosovo.

In September 2004, Praxis continued with the work initiated by NRC, taking into account the fact that the possession of personal documents is the basis for exercising the rights to social welfare, health care, education, employment and other fundamental rights.

Referring to the experience gained in the work on individual cases, in April 2005 Praxis addressed the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government pointing out the irregularities in the work of these registry offices i. e. in handling requests for obtaining excerpts and certificates, which was not according to the law.

In July 2005, the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government informed Praxis that the registry offices were instructed on how to handle the requests for issuing registry book excerpts and certificates, in order to eliminate the irregularities indicated by Praxis.

Upon receiving a notification letter from the mentioned Ministry, Praxis resumed sending IDPs' requests by mail, enclosing the receipts on paid administrative fees for issuing documents. It has been noticed that the registry offices began to act in accordance with the Ministry's instruction: to process requests received by mail and also to send documents by mail. However, certain registry offices addressed Praxis with the request to enclose blank forms of excerpts and certificates when requesting the issuance of documents.

Praxis will continue following up on the work of registry offices and at the same time it will continue lobbying for easier and less complicated access to personal documents. It should be mentioned that in addition to providing legal assistance, Praxis bears the cost of administrative fees for issuing documents, thus freeing the clients of any expenses in the process of obtaining their documents. Praxis also reimburses the travel expenses to IDPs who need to travel to the police offices dislocated from Kosovo to Serbia for the purpose of obtaining their ID cards.

UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Principle 20
1. Every human being has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.
2. To give effect to this right for internally displaced persons, the authorities concerned shall issue to them all documents necessary for the enjoyment and exercise of their legal rights, such as passports, personal identification documents, birth certificates and marriage certificates. In particular, the authorities shall facilitate the issuance of new documents or the replacement of documents lost in the course of displacement, without imposing unreasonable conditions, such as requiring the return to one's area of habitual residence in order to obtain these or other required documents.

Republic administrative fees reduced by 70%

According to the Law on Republic Administrative Fees (Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 43/2003, 51/2003 – amended, 61/2005 and 101/2005 – other law), the cost of republic administrative fees for submitting requests for birth, marriage, death and citizenship certificates has been reduced by 70% for internally displaced persons. When submitting the requests, it is necessary that IDPs present a copy of their IDP cards.

Exemption from paying the republic administrative fee

Article 19 of the afore-mentioned law specifies, among other things, the exemption from paying republic administrative fee when documents are requested for the following purposes:

    * for registration into registry books;
    * for documents and actions taken in the procedures of correcting data in decisions, other documents and official records;
    * for documents and actions taken in exercising social insurance right, right to children’s social care, social protection, protection of military and civilian war invalids;
    * for documents and actions taken in relation to education of pupils and students, specialization, retraining;
    * for requests submitted to the organs responsible for requests and complaints;
    * for documents and actions taken when starting employment and exercising employment-related rights.

Responsible organs not applying certain legal provisions

Eight months after the Amendments to the Law on Republic Administrative Fees came into force, registry offices in Central and Southern Serbia, administering registry books dislocated from Kosovo to Serbia, still claim not to have been informed about certain provisions of this law, and that, therefore, they have not been applying them.

For this reason Praxis first addressed the registry offices pointing to their obligation to respect clearly defined legal provisions, and then pointed to the responsible ministries the irregularities in the work of the registry offices. The Registry Office Kragujevac was the first to start applying the legal provisions by recognizing IDPs their right to pay reduced administrative fees.

On this occasion Praxis would like to inform IDPs in need of documents (registry book certificates) on their right to pay reduced administrative fees on the grounds of their IDP status, or to be exempted from paying the fees as stipulated by law.

Download: Lower Fees for Registry Book Certificates

Praxis’ report Access to Documents for Internally Displaced Persons in Serbia has been presented at the IDP Working Group Conference in Belgrade.

The IDP Working Group, jointly organized by UNHCR, OSCE and Praxis, took place on 29 March 2007 in Belgrade. The participants of the Conference were 130 representatives of government institutions, international organizations, local and international NGOs, diplomatic corps and the media. On that occasion, two reports were presented: Praxis’ report Access to Documents for IDPs in Serbia and the updated Analysis of the Situation of Internally Displaced Persons from Kosovo in Serbia: Law and Practice produced by the Inter-agency Group in October 2005. The latter has been prepared through a joint effort of UNHCR and Praxis and has been endorsed by a number of international organizations and international and local NGOs involved in IDP work on a daily basis.

The paper prepared jointly by UNHCR and Praxis gives broader overview of the IDP situation, identifies gaps in the legal system and proposes concrete solutions to alleviate everyday problems of IDPs with the aim to ensure that IDPs are guaranteed effective access to basic civil, political, social and economic rights, including documentation.  

Praxis’ report Access to Documents for IDPs in Serbia addresses the problems IDPs face in accessing their documentation, both in Serbia and in Kosovo, which is essential for the enjoyment of human and civic rights. Based on the experience of Praxis’ lawyers gained through everyday assistance provided to the displaced, the report presents major obstacles in obtaining documentation, specific issues concerning unequal practice of administrative and judicial organs, Praxis’ advocacy work and recommendations for solving the documentation issue. Its aim is to provide information on this issue to all interested parties, as well as to motivate all levels of authority to act in full compliance with their powers and obligations in order to overcome the documentation problem and make possible the fulfillment of basic human rights.

Download: Access to Documents for Internally Displaced Persons in Serbia

…Profound understanding of rights, especially profound understanding of right to be recognized as person before the law, leads us to the conclusion that it is necessary to do something, to undertake some reform in our legal system…

OSCE Mission to Serbia, UNHCR Serbia and NGO Praxis organized the roundtable “Subsequent Registration into Birth Registry Books” on 12th December 2007 in Belgrade. The roundtable brought together the representatives of the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and municipal administration bodies (administering the registry books dislocated from Kosovo) of the Republic of Serbia, as well as the representatives of non-governmental and international organizations in the region.

The roundtable was organized with the aim to point out the problems in practice in relation to conducting the procedures of subsequent registration into birth registry books of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Serbia, and to present the solutions and good practice of other countries through comparative legal analysis, as well as to define recommendations for solving this problem in Serbia.

Praxis pointed out the obstacles IDPs in Serbia are facing in practice, in particular Roma population, in conducting the procedures of subsequent registration into birth registry books. A significant number of Roma live without personal documents, they are legally invisible and prevented from exercising their basic human rights, such as the right to health care, social welfare, education, labour, etc. Even though the country has positive obligation to recognize every human being as legal subject, as stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia and various international documents which Serbia ratified (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, etc), the country sometimes cannot ensure the full realization of these rights to a certain number of citizens.

Praxis suggested that the issue of subsequent registration should be normatively regulated by adopting a new law or by amending the existing relevant laws. The enhancement of institutional capacities of the competent municipal administration bodies should also be supported. Praxis emphasised that only through cooperation between competent ministries, as well as networking of both governmental and non-governmental sector could a constructive and effective solution to this problem be reached.

Centre for Advanced Legal Studies from Belgrade said that Serbia was one of the countries which did not have separate laws regulating the category of legally invisible persons. The Centre stated: “We can use law as an excuse; we can say that we act in accordance with the given legal regime, but we should not say that we cannot change that legal regime or that it cannot be more effective, if it is ineffective like ours. Therefore, profound understanding of rights, especially profound understanding of right to legal subjectivity, leads us to the conclusion that it is necessary to do something, to undertake some reform in our legal system, in order to resolve the issue. Comparative legal experience confirms that it is possible. We lawyers are here to solve that problem.”

The participants of the roundtable also had the opportunity to become fully acquainted with the experience of countries in the region (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Montenegro) regarding this matter.

At the end it was concluded that, in order to reach a solution to this problem, it is necessary to legally regulate the issue of subsequent registration into registry books of persons who are legally invisible, as well as to increase financial capacities and human resources of the municipal administration bodies in order to enable these persons to effectively exercise their basic human rights.

Praxis will continue to advocate for solution to this problem, jointly with Centre for Advanced Legal Studies, UNHCR, OSCE and other relevant organizations, with the aim to establish effective legal system in this field.

Download: Subsequent Registration in Member States of the International Commission on Civil Status