The Ministry of Justice welcomes the opening of the Bar Association of Serbia’s Free Legal Aid Call Centre through which, starting from today, units of local self-government will be referring all approved requests for the appointment of attorneys in the order of providing free legal aid. The Call Centre is to be used exclusively by the local self-governments for the appointment of attorneys to provide free legal aid, and is, therefore, not intended for direct communication with citizens.
The setting-up of the Call Centre was prescribed by the Protocol on the information exchange in the attorney referral procedure for the provision of free legal aid, signed by the Ministry of Justice and the Bar Association of Serbia in February 2020.
The referral procedure is as follows: an appointed focal point in a unit of local self-government telephones the Call Centre stating the name of the local self-government body in question, the name of the person with authority in that body, the name and surname of the free legal aid beneficiary in need of an attorney, and the name of the body which is to conduct the subject legal proceedings. Using a special application, the Call Centre operator will then contact attorneys in the order in which they appear on the list of free legal aid providers, and once a referral, i.e. an appointment has been confirmed, notify the focal point of the name of the attorney who has accepted to provide the requested free legal aid.
The Free Legal Aid Act — which entered into force on 1 October 2019 — defines free legal aid as consisting of legal representation, offering of legal advice, drafting of motions, and legal defence.
There are 150 units of local self-government and over 3,672 attorneys registered in the Register of Free Legal Aid and Support Providers. The full Register lists have been published on the website of the Ministry of Justice and they are regularly updated. As the name suggests, the Register also lists providers of free legal support which, according to the Free Legal Aid Act, entails providing legal information in general terms, filling out forms, drafting notarial acts, and mediating in dispute resolution.