The EU funded project “Promotion and protection of property rights of IDPs, refugees and returnees upon readmission agreement” is a follow-up to four earlier projects implemented by the EU Delegation to Serbia and the Office for Kosovo and Metohija. The project worth EUR 3,650,000 is funded by the EU and the Government of the Republic of Serbia and implemented by the Consortium led by the European Consulting Group.
Over the past two decades, the IDPs, refugees and returnees from the EU upon readmission agreements have faced with numerous human rights violations, amongst which illegal property occupation and demolition, discrimination of Serbs and other non-Albanian population in state institutions in Kosovo and Metohija, lack of legal representation and safety endangering. The Legal Aid Office is a continuous effort of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, with financial support of the European Union, to offer assistance to these groups in exercising their rights.
At least 60,000 of property claims regarding the displacement of Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija since 1999 includes Serbs from Kosovo whose property was damaged, destroyed or illegally occupied.
Up to 85,000 Serbian families, including many of the displaced people, could lose their property in Kosovo and Metohija in the cadaster program for verification introduced by the authorities in Pristina.
People eligible for the legal aid this project provides are displaced people and people who have property rights in Kosovo and Metohija but due to their financial situation cannot afford legal representation or who cannot exercise their rights due to the limited access to the Kosovo legislation. A team of senior experts, junior experts and legal trainees working from six offices throughout Serbia and Kosovo and Metohia will be at their disposal working to provide them with adquat assistance. Services the office provides include offering legal advice, representation before courts in places of client’s origin, obtaining documentation from state institutions, as well as informing those in need on their rights.
Besides assisting clients, the Project is also working on a sustainablity of legal aid for the people who have troubles getting legal represantation. A team of young, talented lawyers, born in Kosovo and metohija, Croatia or BiH, will work for the Lagal Aid alongside the legal experts gaining a unique skills and experinece which will enable them to contuniue working on preserving the rights of those in need.
Of 705 lawyers registered in, only 23 (1.5%) are lawyers of Serbian nationality. The youngest Serbian lawyer is in his fourties.
These lawyers, who will be trained in English as well, will gain the knowladge equal to the master program and will be registered with the Bar Association.