No.07-00-151/2015-02  Date: 10 August 2015

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the procedure regarding the complaint lodged by M.Đ, on behalf and with the consent of his wife A.Đ, against the Administration for Child, Social and Primary Health Care of the City of Niš. The complaint stated that A.Đ. was not granted the right to one-time financial aid for unemployed pregnant women, the right to one-time financial aid for the firstborn child in the family and the right to parental allowance because she was an Albanian citizen. The declaration of the Head of the Administration for Child, Social and Primary Health Care of the City of Niš stated that the right to one-time financial aid for unemployed new mothers is recognised to a mother with permanent residence in the territory of the city of Niš for at least a year before the birth of the child, while the right to one-time financial aid for the first-born child in the family is recognised if the mother has a registered permanent residence in the territory of the City of Niš for at least six months before giving birth, and that A.Đ. was not recognised these rights because there was her residence had not been registered at least one year or six months respectively before the child’s birth. In the course of the procedure it was established that the Administration for Child, Social and Primary Health Care acted in accordance with the regulations in force when deciding on the applications made by A.Đ. regarding the rights to parental allowance and to one-time financial aid for unemployed new mothers. Namely, the Law on Financial Support to Families with Children stipulates that the right to parental allowance belongs with a mother who is a citizen of the Republic of Serbia, while as regards the right to one-time financial aid for unemployed new mothers, it was found that A.Đ. had a registered permanent residence in the City of Niš for less than a year before giving birth. It was also established that the Administration, when deciding on the application for exercising the right to one-time financial aid to the first-born child in the family, did not recognise A.Đ. this right because she was a foreign citizen, even though this requirement was not stipulated in the decision and despite the fact that A.Đ. had registered permanent residence in Niš more than six months before the child was born. The Commissioner issued the opinion that the decisions made by the Administration for Child, Social and Primary Health Care of the City of Niš which did not recognise the right to one-time financial aid for unemployed new mothers and the right to parental allowance did not violate the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, while the decision not recognising A.Đ. the right to one-time financial aid for the firstborn child in the family constituted a violation of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination and A.Đ. was discriminated against on the grounds of her personal characteristic – citizenship. In this context, the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality recommended that the Administration for Child, Social and Primary Health Care of the City of Niš, and M.P. as its Head and responsible person, should take all necessary measures to eliminate the consequences of discriminatory treatment against A.Đ, and not to violate anti-discrimination regulations in the future when performing activities within their competence.