Project duration: January 1^st, 2026 – December 31^st, 2028
Donor: Delegation of the European Union to Serbia
Project value: 743,330.00 EUR
Partners:
Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM (lead applicant)
Association Fenomena (project partner)
Network of Committees for Human Rights in Serbia – CHRIS Network (project partner)
…IZ KRUGA VOJVODINA – organization for the support of women with disabilities (project partner) 

Defending Justice: Access to Legal Aid for All is a three-year project led by Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM, aimed at strengthening access to justice and free legal aid in Serbia, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups. The project responds to persistent gaps in the implementation of the Law on Free Legal Aid by combining direct legal support, capacity-building for legal aid providers, evidence-based monitoring, and targeted advocacy. Through a people-centered and rights-based approach, the project enhances the availability, quality, and accessibility of legal aid services. By empowering citizens to understand and exercise their rights, strengthening local and national legal aid ecosystems, and linking grassroots experience with national and EU-level advocacy, the project contributes to the rule of law, protection of fundamental rights, and Serbia’s EU integration process.

ACTIVITIES

• Provide free legal aid, strategic litigation, and psychosocial support to victims, including survivors of gender-based violence, persons with disabilities, and individuals facing arbitrary detention or SLAPPs.
• Increase public legal awareness through accessible legal guides, multimedia content, and interactive information tools, with special outreach to underserved communities.
• Strengthen the capacities of free legal aid providers, local self-governments, civil society organizations, attorneys, and legal clinics through targeted trainings and standardized tools.
• Develop and maintain a national Free Legal Aid Toolkit and an up-to-date map of legal aid providers to improve coordination, quality, and transparency of services.
• Monitor the implementation of the Law on Free Legal Aid and produce evidence-based recommendations for legal and policy reform.
• Support community-based legal aid initiatives, mobile legal clinics, and Street Law programs to expand access to justice outside major urban centers.
• Advance national and EU-level advocacy to align Serbia’s legal aid system with European and international human rights standards.

ANTICIPATED RESULTS

• Increased availability and use of free legal aid services among vulnerable groups;
• Improved public understanding of legal rights and pathways to justice;
• Strengthened institutional and professional capacity of legal aid providers and justice actors;
• More consistent, inclusive, and coordinated delivery of free legal aid across Serbia;
• Enhanced protection of victims’ rights, including for gender-based violence survivors;
• Evidence-based inputs contributing to legal reform and EU monitoring processes;
• Improved access to justice at the local level, reflected in increased willingness of vulnerable citizens to seek legal protection through formal justice mechanisms.