A decision has finally been made that allows, after 11 years of waiting, all those in need across the nine cities and municipalities in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton to finally access the right to legal aid, which is a legal obligation and a human right. This has been achieved thanks to the efforts and dedication of the Association for Education and Development "Dignitet" and the Nansen Dialogue Centre (NDC) Mostar, which launched the initiative "Right to Legal Aid – Mostar." Specifically, the Government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, in its latest session, selected Aida Zerem from the candidates for the position of the director of the Institute for Providing Free Legal Aid HNK/Ž. She was the most successful of the four candidates who met the requirements in the competition for the director's position. "We are very happy with this decision by the Government. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Minister of Justice, Administration, and Local Self-Government, Goran Karanović, who has been at our disposal from the very beginning and has shown the readiness and willingness to resolve this issue. I also thank the Minister of Finance, Adil Šuta, who has also provided us with support and confirmed that funds for the work of the Institute are regularly allocated from the Budget. At the same time, I thank the Prime Minister of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, Marija Buhač, who provided us with both verbal and written support and fulfilled her promise by ensuring that our Canton will now have a director and a functional Institute for Providing Free Legal Aid. We also thank the other ministers who ultimately supported the appointment of the proposed candidate. A big thank you to the media, civil society organizations, and everyone else who, in their own way, supported our campaign", said Edisa Demić, representative of the initiative "Right to Legal Aid – Mostar."
With this decision, the Government of the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton has tasked the Ministry of Justice, Administration, and Local Self-Government to request an opinion from the Agency for Civil Service of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the candidate. After verification, the Agency will submit its opinion to the relevant ministry, and if the opinion is positive, the official appointment of the director of the Institute for Providing Free Legal Aid HNK/Ž will follow. In addition to the appointment of the director, the remaining employees of the Institute must also be appointed, which the representatives of the "Right to Legal Aid – Mostar" initiative have requested to be completed no later than 60 days from the director's appointment. Once the Institute becomes functional, more than 20% of those in need, as estimated in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, will be able to exercise their right to free legal aid. The current law, adopted in 2013, stipulates that the right to free legal aid can be accessed by beneficiaries of permanent financial assistance, children without parental care, victims of violence, persons deprived of legal capacity and those with mental illnesses, veterans, recipients of the lowest pension, unemployed persons with displaced persons status, refugees, returnees, and demobilized soldiers, individuals in poor financial situations, as well as persons involved in criminal proceedings without permanent residence in HNK/K.
The Institute for Providing Free Legal Aid HNK/Ž, which was officially opened in 2014 but has not yet become functional, is located on Aleksa Šantić Street, near the VI Primary School in Mostar. The "Right to Legal Aid – Mostar" initiative has announced that in the coming period, through civil society organizations, they will provide all necessary information about the Institute’s operations to all cities and municipalities in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton.
More information is available on the PRAGG Initiative channel: Pravo na pravnu pomoć Mostar.
