Strengthening Affordability of Justice in Serbia - Guide for Exemption of Court Fees

The MDTF-JSS in partnership with the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights - YUCOM prepared the Guide for Exemption from Court Fees: Court Fees in Civil Proceedings and How to Dispense with Payments. The main objective of the Guide is to improve financial access to justice and to instruct material disadvantaged individuals how to use the right to exemption from court fees. 2014 Serbian Judicial Functional Review points out that individuals with lower incomes are discouraged from the court due to the costs, so exemption from paying a court fee may be crucial to enable them access. Especially in labor disputes exemption from paying a court fee may be decisive whether a person will continue with his or her request or not. However, the general public has rather limited understanding of the option of exemption from paying the court fees and therefore many potential beneficiaries did not continue to pursue their right.

The Guide for Exemption from Court Fees is intended for the parties in civil proceedings. The Guide shows the basic costs of the civil proceedings in a simple manner, provides instructions on how they are determined, what are the payment deadlines, as well as what are the consequences in case of refusal to pay these costs. The Guide will empower parties to estimate costs of the proceedings and possible consequences on its financial status and ensure informed decision making if the dispute should be submitted to the court.

The Guide provides practical models of exempt from paying court fees, although the cases of exemption from all costs in civil proceedings are rare being the condition for getting the pro bono representation.