OSCE Mission to Serbia, UNHCR support authorities to resolve problems facing people without legal identities
BELGRADE, 24 November 2008 - The challenges related to legally recognizing people without identity documents is the focus of a roundtable discussion which started in Belgrade today, following similar discussions held in Novi Sad and in Nis this month.
Some 40 representatives of the state judiciary, municipal authorities and international organizations are taking part in the discussion, which was organized jointly by the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights of Serbia, the OSCE Mission to Serbia, the UNHCR Representation for Serbia and a local non-governmental organization, the Centre for Advanced Legal Studies.
"It is a serious problem that some Serbian citizens are unable to exercise their basic human rights because their legal subjectivity, their legal identity, has not been recognized through entry in the birth registries. The OSCE Mission will continue to support the authorities and their partners to find a solution," said Ambassador Hans Ola Urstad, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Serbia.
People facing this problem in Serbia include both residents and internally displaced Roma many of whom have lived in Serbia for a long time but not have resolved their legal status.
"Because of the cumbersome administrative procedures for subsequent registration, many persons are deprived of their right to legal subjectivity and are de facto stateless, and UNHCR's mandate is to work with government to prevent this phenomenon," said UNHCR Representative Lennart Kotsalainen.
In response to this problem, a Model Law on Recognition of Legal Subjectivity has been developed by the Centre for Advanced Legal Studies, with expert assistance from another NGO, Praxis, and the support of UNHCR, the US State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and the OSCE Mission to Serbia. The model law has been presented to the Serbian Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, which has pledged its support.