Project title: Access to Justice in Serbia
Duration: December 2017 to May 2018
Donor: The Multi Donor Trust Fund for Justice Sector Support in Serbia
About the project: The overall objective of this project is to create several guides and competent analysis targeting specific problems, where the citizens can get much easier approach to justice, without external costs. With this group of useful information and professional advices how to use presented knowledge, all citizens could much easier realize their own rights.
MDTF JSS, in cooperation with the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM, is conducting a project Access to Justice in Serbia, where are proposed several actions of improving access to justice through several focal points, such as: Right to exemption from court fees, Interactive Map of Free Legal Aid Services and Access to justice of vulnerable groups. YUCOM chose those themes as representative examples where the ordinary citizens with the professional support in the shape of special developed guides or analyses, can make a huge improvement of their positions in accessing to the justice.
YUCOM is preparing a short guide for citizens on the use of the right to exemption from court fees. Since there is no harmonized judicial practice on the processing of waiver requests, YUCOM will disseminate the questioners to the judges. Purpose of the questionnaire is to identify common nominators in judicial practice.
Through desk research conducted by YUCOM, it is also noticed that the courts which have the obligation of official use of minority language do not have basic information on court rules on their web portals. There is no information on the rights of parties in a proceeding, including right of national minorities to interpreter. Also, the legal information is not presented on the National minorities Councils web presentations. Since existing GUIDE: FIRST TIME IN COURT OR AT A COURTHOUSE is translated in five languages, YUCOM is preparing Short guide on Right to appointed interpreter and How to reach interpreter as an added value to the previous Guide.
In the absence of a Law on Free Legal Aid or other adequate legal provisions for the provision of free legal aid, there is a need in Serbia for a guides and professional analyses that can be used as a bridge for easier access to justice for all citizens.