Serbia Handbook for Legal Aid Providers Final

When providing legal info/advice over the telephone it is important to record the name of the
client and complete a legal aid application. The details of advice given must be recorded in
the event there becomes a need for follow up or if the client calls again in the future.
Tips to effective telephone counselling;
� Never answer the phone saying “Hello” but “EU legal aid Project, can I help you”;
� Inform the person to whom he/she is talking to;
� Find out the name of the client who seeks information;
� Note the time of call;
� Address the client and their problem with respect;
� Take detailed notes during the conversation;
� Get acquainted with the problem presented by the client;
� Use open ended questions during the conversation (e.g. who, what, when, where) to
illicit a better explanation of the problem;
� Inform the client about the services provided and the kind of information they may get;
� If the case requires the review of documents or a higher level of legal aid, schedule an
appointment for the individual to meet in person to discuss the problem;
� If the case is beyond the mandate of the Project, try to direct the client to a competent
institution. A list of organizations is located at the end of the toolbox.
Filing of a case with the local courts in Kosovo and Metohija
Due to the nature of the claims being filed and the status of the clients being represented
one can expect that there are going to be many difficulties associated with filing of claims
with the local courts in Kosovo and Metohija. This includes, but is not limited to: security
issues, refusal to accept documents from Serbia proper, refusal to provide documents in the
Serbian language and in some instances, perhaps bias/prejudice and even conflict of
interest.
It is the duty of the advocate to enthusiastically represent their client to the best of their
ability even under the most extreme difficulties. This means to ensure that there is no room
for mistake with these courts and following up on the status of the case regularly. Legal Aid
providers must ensure that they have valid powers of attorney when making submissions to
the local courts on behalf of clients. While courts currently accept such documents drafted in
courts in Serbia proper, they will not accept them from any of the courts displaced from
Kosovo and Metohija. There have been recent instances where courts in Kosovo and
Metohija refuse to accept powers of attorney certified in Serbia proper from any court.
Practitioners should get in the habit of requesting in advance, in writing, the presence of a
court translator to provide translation during hearings and for transcripts to be translated into
Serbian. There are several provisions of the applicable law that guarantee the language
rights in Courts of parties. 9 Nevertheless, many cases have been postponed in the past due
to failure to coordinate the services of a translator in advance.
Court/Case costs, who pays them
In most cases legal aid will cover the cost of filing fees with courts for clients that cannot
afford to pay these costs.
9 Article 5 of the Law on Realization of Equality of Languages and Alphabets of Nations and Nationalities, Official
Gazette of the SAP of Kosovo, No. 48/77, Section 5 of UNMIK Regulation 2006/25 On the Framework for the
Justice System in Kosovo.
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