Free Legal Aid for BiH Citizens Soon

If the Bill on Providing Free Legal Aid is adopted by the BiH Parliament in line with the proposal, this right will be exercised by persons receiving social assistance, children in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, persons deprived of legal capacity and mentally ill persons, pensioners whose pensions are lower than the average salary earned at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina, unemployed persons with no other regular income and revenue, victims of domestic violence or gender-based violence, asylum seekers, persons under subsidiary or temporary protection, persons facing deportation, stateless persons, and victims of human trafficking, writes the Patria News Agency.

Furthermore, persons in a state of poor financial standing will also be entitled to free legal aid, as determined by the competent authority for providing free legal aid.

- A person in a state of poor financial standing is considered to be a person whose total monthly regular income and revenue per household member do not exceed 40% of the average monthly net salary paid in the previous fiscal year at the level of Bosnia and Herzegovina – this bill proposal specifies.

The Council of Ministers has submitted this bill to parliamentary procedure, and it specifies the establishment of an Office for Providing Free Legal Aid.

- The Office is an internal organizational unit within the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Minister of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina is responsible for managing the Office. The number of employees and the internal organization and job systematization within the Office shall be determined by regulations adopted by the Minister of Justice, with the consent of the Council of Ministers within thirty days from the date of entry into force of this law – it is stated, among other things, in the law.

The adoption and application of this law do not require amendments to existing regulations. Given that Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republika Srpska, and a number of cantons have adopted their own laws establishing a system of free legal aid that are not in conflict with the provisions of this law, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, or rather the cantons in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina that have not yet adopted them, should enact their own regulations.

The UNDP has also provided significant support for the establishment of free legal aid in Bosnia and Herzegovina by renovating office spaces in entities and cantons, procuring necessary equipment, organizing training for free legal aid providers, and has expressed support and assistance in implementing this law through a signed memorandum with the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina.