no. 07-00-374/2024-02 date: 11.9.2024.

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the proceedings regarding the complaint of AA against Belgrade Bar Chamber (hereinafter: BBC) due to the discriminatory action of the Management Board of the BBC, which denied him the registration in the Directory of legal trainees and legal trainees-volunteers of the BBC (hereinafter: Directory) because he obtained the title of graduate lawyer at the Law faculty whose founder is not the RS, that is, at the “private” Faculty of Law of the Union University in Belgrade (hereinafter: FLUUB). In the complaint, he stated that on October 14, 2022, he submitted an application for entry in the Directory, which was filed under number 8743/22. He also stated that since the BBC did not decide on his application for registration in the Directory even after the expiration of the legal period of 60 days, he submitted a complaint to the second-instance body of the Bar Chamber of Serbia (hereinafter: BCS), and that the BCS issued a decision no. 185/2023 of April 04, 2023, in which it accepted his appeal and ordered the BBC to issue a decision on his registration in the Directory of that chamber within 30 days from the date of receipt of the second-instance decision. He further stated that since BBC did not act according to this decision of the BCS, on June 6, 2023 he filed a another complaint with a request for action upon to the decision of the BCS no. 185/2023 of April 1, 2023 and proposed that the BCS, in accordance with Article 173, paragraph 3 of the Law on General Administrative Procedure, itself decide on the administrative matter, considering that the first-instance authority – BBC again did not issue a decision within the deadline set by second-instance authority. In this regard, the BCS issued decision no. 398/2023 in which, in paragraph 1, it accepts the complaint and concludes that AA meets the requirements for registration in the Directory of legal interns of the BBC volunteers prescribed by Article 54 of the Legal Profession Act and requires that the BBC, within the period of 30 days from the date of receipt of the second-instance decision, enable AA of taking the solemn oath of the legal trainee, and after taking the solemn oath, to hand him the decision on the registration in the Directory of legal trainees in accordance with Articles 56 and 57 of the Legal Profession Act. Evidence for these allegations was submitted as an attachment to the complaint. In the BBC statement it was specified that the Management Board of the BBC acted on AA’s request for registration in the Directory of legal trainees-volunteers of the BBC and decided on this issue at the sessions held on December 14, 2022, March 14, April 25, May 25, June 22, and November 20, 2023 , as well as on January 30, March 6, April 11 and May 16, 2024, but no decision was reached about it. It was further stated that Article 137 of the Law on General Administrative Procedure, which is applied in the process of resolving status issues, prescribes that the collegial body makes decisions by the majority of votes of the total number of members, unless otherwise prescribed, while Article 14 of the Rules of Procedure of the Management Board of BBC prescribes that if the number of votes for and against the proposed decision is equal, the vote is repeated, and if the result of the vote is the same, the discussion regarding the disputed decision is postponed to the next session. At the end, it was stated that when deciding on the request of AA, there was not a majority of votes neither “for” nor “against” the proposed decision, which is required according to Article 137 of the Law on General Administrative Procedure, and for that reason no decision was made regarding his demands, as well as that the members of the BBC Management Board vote completely independently regarding any decision of the Management Board, and as already stated, when deciding on status issues, eight votes are required for a decision, given that the BBC Management Board has fifteen members. After receiving the statement, the Commissioner requested a supplement to the statement, namely, that this state body informs the Commissioner whether the Management Board of the Belgrade Bar Chamber, at the sessions held on December 14, 2022, March 14, April 25, May 25, June 22 and November 20, 2023, January 30, March 6, April 11, and May 16, 2024, decided on requests of law graduates who graduated from a law faculty founded by the Republic of Serbia for registration in the Directory of legal trainees of the BBC and, if so, to submit evidence of it. In this regard, BBC informed the Commissioner that the Management Board of the BBC, at the sessions held on December 14, 2022, March 14, April 25, May 25, June 22 and November 20, 2023, January 30, March 6, April 11 and May 16, 2024, decided on the requests of law graduates who graduated from a law faculty founded by the Republic of Serbia for registration in the Directory of legal interns-volunteers of the BBC, but the requested evidence was not submitted. Acting on the Commissioner’s request to supplement the statement, the BBC submitted the requested minutes, which were received by the Commissioner on September 2, 2024. In the course of the proceedings, it was established as indisputable that the Management Board of the BBC at the sessions held on December 14, 2022, March 14, April 25, May 25, June 22, and November 20, 2023, January 30, March 6, April 11, and May 16, 2024, did not decide on the request of AA. The analysis of the submitted minutes from these sessions determined that the BBC decided on the requests for entry into the Directory of the BBC of law graduates who graduated from a law faculty founded by the Republic of Serbia, i.e. that on these sessions, decisions were made to register 331 candidates in the Directory. During the proceedings, the Commissioner further established that BBC did not act according to the instruction of the second-instance body, that is, according to the decisions of the BCS. Finally, the Commissioner specifically points out that after the adoption of the aforementioned decision of the BCS no. 398/2023, BBC held 5 more sessions, on November 20, 2023, and on January 30, March 6, April 11, and May 16, 2024 and did not act according to the decision of the BCS, while on the other hand, at those sessions, it registered as many as 166 candidates who obtained the title of law graduate from a law faculty founded by the Republic of Serbia. In accordance with all of the above, applying the rule on the redistribution of the burden of proof, the Commissioner concluded that in the specific case, the BBC clearly made a difference when deciding on AA’s request for registration in the Directory of legal trainees only due to the fact that the complainant obtained the title of law graduate at the “private” faculty FLUUB, i.e. a law faculty whose founder is not the Republic of Serbia, thus preventing him of completing an internship, i.e. professional training for the job for which he was educated. In this regard, the Commissioner, considering all the facts and submitted evidence, issued the opinion that by failing to make a decision on AA’s request for registration in the Directory of legal trainees and legal trainees-volunteers of the BBC due to the fact that he obtained the title of graduate lawyer at a law faculty whose founder was not the Republic of Serbia, i.e. at the “private” Faculty of Law of the Union University in Belgrade, the Belgrade Bar Chamber violated the provisions of Articles 6, 16, paragraph 1 and Article 19, paragraph 1 and 2 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination. The Commissioner recommended the Belgrade Bar Chamber to decide on AA’s request for registration in the Directory of legal trainees-volunteers of the BBC, which is registered in the BBC under the reference number 8743/22, immediately after receiving this opinion, to act equally according to applicants requests’ regardless of whether they received their diploma at FLUUB or at a law faculty founded by the Republic of Serbia, as long as the requirements regarding appropriate accreditation and work permits for the law study program are met at these faculties in accordance with the law and by-laws regulating the field of higher education, to inform the Bar Chamber of Serbia with the opinion of the Commissioner, as well as to comply with the regulations on the prohibition of discrimination in the future.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY
Brankica Janković