5. OTHER ACTIVITIES IN THE AREAS OF WORK OF THE PROTECTOR OF CITIZENS 5.1. AREA OF CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS ACTIVITIES OF THE PROTECTOR OF CITIZENS Justice and judiciary In this reporting period, too, citizens contacted the Protector of Citizens expecting the provision of legal assistance for the purpose of exercise and protection of rights in the proceedings before competent bodies. It is important to mention that in this reporting period the application of the Law on Free Legal Assistance144 started. Taking into account that the application of the Law started on 1st October, 2019, it is still not possible to analyze the effects of the application. In complaints to the Protector of Citizens it is still indicated to the problems with regards to the supervision implemented by the Ministry of Justice over the operation of court administration, acting of courts in cases within prescribed deadlines and acting upon complaints and presentations of citizens. Citizens who use legal remedies stipulated by the Law on Court Organization145 and Court Rulebook146 express dissatisfaction believing that the predicted mechanisms of supervision are not effective and efficient since frequently in situations in which their complaints by competent instance are estimated as founded, measures which are taken do not provide expected effects. With regards to this, citizens most frequently express dissatisfaction in situations when their complaints, especially those referring to the duration of the proceeding, were estimated as founded by the Court President, and they are informed that the measures were taken to accelerate the proceeding but even apart from that there are no changes in the status of the proceedings. In these cases, citizens contact the Ministry of Justice as the authority which controls the performance of court administration activities, acting in cases within prescribed deadlines and acting upon complaints and presentations. Nevertheless, their expectations are not met, since acting of the Ministry is most often terminated by sending of the report of the Court President to the complainant. It is important to mention also that from the complaints received by the Protector of Citizens referring to the operation of judiciary bodies and the Ministry of Justice the conclusion may be drawn that citizens are not familiar enough with the authorizations of these bodies, especially of the Ministry of Justice. Insufficient information of citizens, lack of professional legal assistance with certain number of citizens results in wrong and legally unfounded expectations that the Ministry may influence on the court proceedings, court decisions and assess their justification. “Official Gazette of RS“, no. 87/18. “Official Gazette of RS“, no. 116/08, 104/09, 101/10, 31/11, 78/11, 101/11, 101/13, 106/15, 40/15, 13/16, 108/16, 113/17, 65/18, 87/18 and 88/18. 146 “Official Gazette of RS“, no. 110/09, 70/11, 19/12, 89/13, 96/15, 104/15, 113/15, 39/16, 56/16, 77/16, 16/18, 78/18, 43/2019 and 93/19. 144 145 - 82 -