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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Judiciary and justice to be available to every citizen

Belgrade, 28 June 2007

Serbian Minister of Justice Dusan Petrovic said today that by building a system of free legal aid, the judiciary and justice will be made available to every citizen.

Opening a conference themed "Creation of an effective and sustainable system of free legal aid in Serbia", Petrovic said that this project will help courts become more effective and return citizens' trust to the judiciary.

He said that Serbia has a large number of poor, refugees and displaced persons and because of that it is necessary to make a good system of free legal aid. He added that one of the requirements for Serbia's entry to the EU is a successful implementation of this system.

Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP to Serbia Rastislav Vrbenski said that it is important that citizens understand that judiciary is available to everyone, and not only to those who have money, underlining that citizens must have equal opportunities.

The project is supported by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). In the first phase of the project, an implementation team has been formed within the Ministry of Justice and an advisory council that will determine the project's strategic activities.

Also, a competition has been announced for allocation of funds to providers of legal aid, which will help to determine the exact methodology of further building of the system of free legal aid on the example of a pilot project.