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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Second phase of free legal aid project begins

Belgrade, 7 April 2008

Serbian Minister of Justice Dusan Petrovic said today that the establishment of a system of free legal aid is part of a long-term strategy to reform the judiciary and introduction of mechanisms for protection of law in Serbia.

Dusan Petrovic and Lance Clark

Author: Tanjug

Speaking at a ceremony marking the beginning of the second phase of project “Creation of a sustainable and efficient system of free legal aid in the Republic of Serbia”, Petrovic said that the second phase is intended for providing better access to justice for underprivileged and marginalised groups.

The project is implemented by the Justice Ministry and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and financed by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and it will be a good guide for a law on free legal aid that might be adopted in 2009.

Partners in this project are bar chambers, NGOs, municipalities and legal clinics at law schools that specialise in offering legal help.

Petrovic said that during the first phase of this project, the Ministry established cooperation with 26 organisations that gave free legal aid to more than 4,600 persons.

Permanent UN Coordinator for Serbia Lance Clark said that the project aims to establish an efficient legal aid system which will be controlled by the state, and will provide help to those who need it.

The programme offers help to poor and vulnerable social groups, such as refugees, persons with disabilities, the Roma, and victims of domestic violence, explained Clark.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Petrovic told the press that the decision to acquit Haradinaj is extremely bad, and added that it has damaged the reputation of the ICTY.

According to Petrovic, it is an infamous fact that Ramush Haradinaj is a man who committed many crimes and it is regrettable that the prosecution and the court were unable to produce an appropriate verdict.

The Minister recalled that the ICTY and the prosecution were constituted by the UN and that the UN and the Security Council must assess the overall work of the court with reference to this case.

Petrovic said that the institution which constituted the ICTY will have to comment on this case, and that will happen when the president and prosecutor of the court present their report for debate.

He said that it would be good for all other relevant institutions in Europe to comment on the matter, since it is of common interest.

Petrovic said that procedures are ongoing in the Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor’s Office against a large number of people, including Haradinaj, and added that there is no doubt that the domestic judiciary will be able to conclude them.

He stressed that he is completely convinced that war crimes prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic and judges who are working on these cases will do everything in their power to establish all the facts and render the appropriate verdicts regarding the events which took place in Kosovo-Metohija.