The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Milan Antonijević, opened the panel discussion “Establishing Free Legal Aid in Local Self-Governments – Dilemmas and Challenges” in Kragujevac, organized by the Local Ombudsman of Kragujevac and Ombudswoman Jelena Milivojević.

Free legal aid exists, but the real challenge is ensuring that it truly reaches every citizen who needs it. Although the law clearly guarantees the right to free legal aid, practice shows that many citizens do not use this right, most often due to insufficient information, lack of trust in institutions, or uneven capacities of local self-governments. That is precisely why it is crucial that the system does not remain at formal solutions, but actively reaches out to citizens, the Commissioner said.

Antonijević emphasized that free legal aid is not a matter of institutional goodwill, but one of the fundamental mechanisms for realizing access to justice, especially for citizens who are at increased risk of discrimination.

Support for this dialogue was provided by Livia Pavićević, State Secretary at the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue, with a joint message that access to justice is the foundation of citizens’ trust in institutions, and that a national campaign on free legal aid needs to be organized.

During the discussion, the Commissioner reminded that all local self-governments had been sent a recommendation not only to formally ensure this assistance, but to make it visible, understandable, and truly accessible to those who need it most. Special attention was drawn to the importance of free legal aid in inheritance matters, where women are still often in a less favorable position due to tradition, social pressure, or lack of legal support.

“If citizens do not know they have a right or do not believe the system will help them, that right does not exist in practice,” was the message that marked the discussion.

At the panel, local ombudsmen from Kragujevac, Kraljevo, Vračar, Knić, Aranđelovac, Rača, and other municipalities of Šumadija exchanged examples of good practice and agreed on joint steps to bring free legal aid closer to citizens, on the ground, in everyday life situations. Limited staffing capacities and a large workload were identified as challenges, but a clear readiness to improve the system was emphasized.