Within the project directed at reduction and prevention of statelessness in Serbia, funded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in December 2011 Praxis issued a report entitled “Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia – Case studies”.

The objective of this case study is to provide a more detailed insight into the implementation of regulations and exercise of the right to citizenship in practice. The cases were selected in a way to show why, despite the general compliance of the Law on Citizenship of the Republic of Serbia with the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, there are continuous violations of the right to citizenship of many persons and why certain persons find it so difficult to prove and establish their citizenship.

The selected cases serve as an overview of the situations, which most often result in statelessness, and effectiveness of certain provisions aimed at prevention of statelessness. The given examples were categorised into four groups, according to the origin of the problems they face and/or depending on the procedures they should initiate in order to acquire citizenship.

With the aim to overcome the problem faced by the internally displaced persons because they are charged the fee for complaint against the decision of the Kosovo Property Agency and the fee for judgement of the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo competent for deciding upon complaints against the decisions of the Kosovo Property Agency, Praxis, Balkan Centre for Migrations and the Project of support to refugees and internally displaced persons in Serbia have addressed the Supervisory Board of the Kosovo Property Agency and the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo.

The Supreme Court of Kosovo, as the authorised proponent, was asked to request an opinion of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo as to whether charging of fees in these cases is in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo, and in particular with the Article 31 Right to Fair and Impartial Trial and Article 32 Right to Legal Remedy of the Constitution. It would resolve the existing dilemmas, as well as any doubt in the constitutionality of practice concerning charging of fees for complaints and judgements before the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo competent for deciding upon complaints against decisions of the Kosovo Property Agency.

At the time it was brought, the regulation stipulating the obligation of paying court fees could not have had in mind the specific procedure for lodging complaints against the decisions of the Kosovo Property Agency and issuance of decisions upon complaints, that was established later. In the procedures of housing property restitution, once under the competence of the Housing and Property Claims Commission, the fees for complaints and second-instance decisions had not been charged.

One should bear in mind that it is a procedure not envisaged to exist permanently in the legal system of protection of property rights in Kosovo. We would like to emphasise that the deadline for submitting requests for initiating procedures for restitution of housing property had expired in 2007, which limited the number of participants in the procedure, the majority of them being internally displaced persons in Serbia. It is yet another fact testifying of specific features of this procedure.

With the aim to overcome the problem faced by the internally displaced persons because they are charged the fee for complaint against the decision of the Kosovo Property Agency and the fee for judgement of the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo competent for deciding upon complaints against the decisions of the Kosovo Property Agency, Praxis, Balkan Centre for Migrations and the Project of support to refugees and internally displaced persons in Serbia have addressed the Supervisory Board of the Kosovo Property Agency and the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo.

The Supreme Court of Kosovo, as the authorised proponent, was asked to request an opinion of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo as to whether charging of fees in these cases is in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo, and in particular with the Article 31 Right to Fair and Impartial Trial and Article 32 Right to Legal Remedy of the Constitution. It would resolve the existing dilemmas, as well as any doubt in the constitutionality of practice concerning charging of fees for complaints and judgements before the Special Chamber of the Supreme Court of Kosovo competent for deciding upon complaints against decisions of the Kosovo Property Agency.

At the time it was brought, the regulation stipulating the obligation of paying court fees could not have had in mind the specific procedure for lodging complaints against the decisions of the Kosovo Property Agency and issuance of decisions upon complaints, that was established later. In the procedures of housing property restitution, once under the competence of the Housing and Property Claims Commission, the fees for complaints and second-instance decisions had not been charged.

One should bear in mind that it is a procedure not envisaged to exist permanently in the legal system of protection of property rights in Kosovo. We would like to emphasise that the deadline for submitting requests for initiating procedures for restitution of housing property had expired in 2007, which limited the number of participants in the procedure, the majority of them being internally displaced persons in Serbia. It is yet another fact testifying of specific features of this procedure.

Praxis organized two workshops for internally displaced women. One was held in the collective centre ORA Sartid in Radinac (15 November 2010), Municipality of Smederevo. Another workshop was organized in Nis (22 December 2010) in cooperation with IDP association Happy Family. During the workshops, women were acquainted with the phenomenon of domestic violence and state institutions responsible for provision of protection against violence. A total of 38 women participated in workshops.

Furthermore, in cooperation with the Regional Centre of Civic Action Lingua, Praxis organized a workshop for refugee women in Kraljevo (1 November 2010). A total of 19 refugee women, who live in collective centres and in private accommodation in the vicinity of Kraljevo, took part in the workshop.

Within the campaign of raising awareness of the public of sexual and gender based violence, Praxis organized 2 three-day regional seminars for representatives of local institutions dealing with protection of domestic violence survivors (justice, police, social welfare centres, health and education institutions, humanitarian and non-governmental organizations). Seminars were held in Smederevo (29-31 March 2010) for representatives of institutions from Smederevo, Pozarevac and Velika Plana; and in Novi Pazar (11-13 May 2010) for representatives of institutions from Novi Pazar, Raska and Sjenica. The goal of the seminar was forming a network of the main local stakeholders and their sensitizing about specific measures of protection and needs of violence survivors. A total of 57 representatives of relevant institutions took an active part in seminars.

In cooperation with the Roma association Bibija, Praxis organized 6 plays of the interactive performance of forum theatre Say STOP to Violence in Belgrade, Kragujevac, Krusevac, Subotica and Nis. The goal of the performance is to help the participants to easily recognize sexual and gender based violence and to become familiar with the role of institutions responsible for the provision of protection to violence survivors. A total of 280 Roma women participated in performances.

The plays were performed by the following schedule:

Beograd (Rakovica) – 27 March 2010
Kragujevac – 17 April 2010
Krusevac – 12 June 2010
Subotica – 2 October 2010
Nis – 9 October 2010
Beograd (Zeleznik) – 23 October 2010

In cooperation with the Roma association Bibija, Praxis organized 6 plays of the interactive performance of forum theatre Say STOP to Violence in Belgrade, Kragujevac, Krusevac, Subotica and Nis. The goal of the performance is to help the participants to easily recognize sexual and gender based violence and to become familiar with the role of institutions responsible for the provision of protection to violence survivors. A total of 280 Roma women participated in performances.

The plays were performed by the following schedule:

Beograd (Rakovica) – 27 March 2010
Kragujevac – 17 April 2010
Krusevac – 12 June 2010
Subotica – 2 October 2010
Nis – 9 October 2010
Beograd (Zeleznik) – 23 October 2010

Praxis organized two workshops for internally displaced women. One was held in the collective centre ORA Sartid in Radinac (15 November 2010), Municipality of Smederevo. Another workshop was organized in Nis (22 December 2010) in cooperation with IDP association Happy Family. During the workshops, women were acquainted with the phenomenon of domestic violence and state institutions responsible for provision of protection against violence. A total of 38 women participated in workshops.

Furthermore, in cooperation with the Regional Centre of Civic Action Lingua, Praxis organized a workshop for refugee women in Kraljevo (1 November 2010). A total of 19 refugee women, who live in collective centres and in private accommodation in the vicinity of Kraljevo, took part in the workshop.

Within the campaign of raising awareness of the public of sexual and gender based violence, Praxis organized 2 three-day regional seminars for representatives of local institutions dealing with protection of domestic violence survivors (justice, police, social welfare centres, health and education institutions, humanitarian and non-governmental organizations). Seminars were held in Smederevo (29-31 March 2010) for representatives of institutions from Smederevo, Pozarevac and Velika Plana; and in Novi Pazar (11-13 May 2010) for representatives of institutions from Novi Pazar, Raska and Sjenica. The goal of the seminar was forming a network of the main local stakeholders and their sensitizing about specific measures of protection and needs of violence survivors. A total of 57 representatives of relevant institutions took an active part in seminars.

As part of the Project “Equal Opportunity for Better Perspectives, Strengthening Roma People to Combat Discrimination,” implemented by the Office of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality of the Republic of Serbia, in cooperation with Praxis the second public discussion was held for the members of Roma community in Prokuplje. Organization of the discussion is a part of the information and education campaign of the Commissioner aimed at raising awareness and strengthening vulnerable social groups to combat discrimination.

The public discussion gathered Roma activists and representatives of organizations the activities of which are directed at protection and assistance to marginalized and excluded social groups, primarily members of Roma community.

At the beginning, representatives of the Office of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality presented the institution and its competence, as well as the procedure upon filing the complaint for discrimination. They also attempted to bring closer to the participants the general notion of discrimination. Stating that “discrimination is unequal treatment of persons who are in equal position or equal treatment of those who are in unequal position,” they tended to simplify complicated legal formulation of the notion of discrimination. Furthermore, through numerous examples they pointed to the participants that not every making of difference is prohibited, thus clearly drawing a line between treatment and acts that are discriminatory and those that are not. In this part of the presentation, the participants were acquainted with numerous forms of discriminatory behaviour and, at the same time, with certain personal features that most often represent basis and reason for discrimination.

Acquainting participants with the aim of the public discussion, representatives of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality particularly emphasised a worrying fact that, among the filed complaints, a very small number was submitted by the members of Roma community or the associations working on the protection of the rights of Roma, especially bearing in mind that the Roma are one of the most discriminated social groups. They, thus, invited the participants to respond to occurrences of violation of the right to equality by filing complaints to the Commissioner, pointing out that the procedure is free and that the complaint can be filed by mail. Besides, the significance and the effect of the Commissioner’s decisions were pointed out, more precisely the discrediting effect that the decisions establishing discrimination have on individuals, a body or a group practising discrimination. Individual cases in which the discrimination was established and the measures undertaken in order to combat such behaviour in the future were also presented. Representative of the Commissioner also distributed the printed edition of the 2011 Regular Annual Report of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality to the participants, as well as the complaint form in the Romani language.

Representative of Praxis spoke about the mechanisms for access to and protection of basic human rights, but also about the most frequent problems and obstacles in the access to certain rights. She particularly pointed to new legal solutions that prescribe a simplified or facilitated procedures. At the same time, she emphasised the significance of citizens insisting on implementation of the new solutions so that their effect can be felt in practice. In a part of the presentation related to access to rights, Praxis representative also referred to the role and significance of the Ombudsperson of the Republic of Serbia, its competence and authorities.

After the presentation, participants of the discussion had the opportunity to actively participate by giving their observations and experience in relation to exercise of rights. Thus, they pointed to the difficulty and often the impossibility to access the rights at all, which leads to their social exclusion and, to a certain extent, deprivation of rights. As they were not familiar with the institution of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, its role, competence and authorities, the discussion contributed to raising awareness of the members of the Roma ethnic minority about their right to equal treatment and the need to use instruments for protection of the right aimed at combating discrimination.