Serbia Handbook for Legal Aid Providers Final

- Reference number. The matter may already have a reference number if it was
referred to you by another organisation or if it was tasked to you by the MKiM. This
needs to be recorded for ease of reference in case the other organisation contacts
you about the case or vice versa.
- Deadlines. If the matter was tasked to you it may have a deadline that you need to
take note of. Also note if there are any statutory time limits in which you or the
complainant must take action.
- Legal Officer. This identifies who received the complaint and is responsible for
following it up.
- Ethnicity. This information is for statistical purposes only. The applicant/client has
the option of not answering this question.
- Languages spoken. This will help you to prepare communications with your client as
it will alert you to in cases where you may need a translator.
- Name of the respondent or opposing party. Both the first name and the surname
of the person, or name of the organisation. The complainant must identify one or
more respondents. If the respondent is a business or organization, the respondent
must be identified by its corporate name. If the respondent is a government agency,
then the government employee (if known), the office and organization should be
named as respondents.
- Type of case. This will provide ease of reference during follow ups as well as assist
in identifying legal trends.
- Case referred to. If you are referring the case to another organisation record the
name of the organisation you are referring the matter to.
- Description of the circumstances of the case. The case brief can be cut and
pasted in this section. It should highlight the significant details of the case.
- Date next action required. There should always be a date of next action planned in
order for a case not to lay dormant. A case that has been sitting dormant for an
extended period does not resolve the problem of the client. If no further action is
required the case-file should say so.
- Any related cases. There may be related cases both involving the same client or for
similar properties with similar problems in the area, this information should be
highlighted so that an effective strategy can be made to address systemic problems.
- Related issues. As was noted under related cases, the identification of related
problems helps to identify trends, which will help us in future planning of a
methodology to address them.
The basic information of a client must be recorded even in instances where basic
information/advice has been given. The information collected in such instances can be
limited to basic identification (name, last name, contact details and case brief).
In determining whether legal aid has been provided after meeting with the client, the
litmus test is to ask “whether the individual is in a better position or better informed after
meeting with a legal officer.” If the answer is “yes” then that person has been given legal aid
and there should be some record indicating that persons’ contact with Legal Aid.
Additionally, this will assist in the event that the individual returns at some time in the future.
It is important to get the contact details of the client, as it may be necessary to contact that
person in the future. If the client does not have a telephone number then get the telephone
number of a relative or friend through whom we can contact the client.
Providing basic legal information or advice to an individual will most likely not require the
intake of many (or any) documents. The application for legal aid, along with any
corresponding documents must be stored in a binder together with similar cases in
chronological order. An index of the cases should be created at the front of the binder, so
as to keep the file organized. The index should include both the name of the client and case
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