To ensure sustainability of free legal aid was the main topic of conference organized from the Agency for Free Legal Aid and UNDP, where it has been raised the need for support from Kosovo Government and local international partners
Deputy Prime Minister at the same time Minister of Justice, Hajredin Kuci, said that Agency for free legal aid helps in the welfare of the citizens. About the sustainability of legal help, minister Kuci, promised that free legal aid will not be reduced, while it is a legal obligation and its infrastructure should be increased
The head of head of the Council of the Agency for Free Legal Help, Alban Sutaj, said that it has not been still achieved that with the budget of Kosovo to fully financing legal help, even that there are very good consolidated institutions to offer professional legal services. The UNDP project, which supports offices of legal help ends in April this year. Sutaj said that to achieve sustainability of free legal help it is necessary for the offices to be included in the budget of Republic of Kosovo, in order to continue to offer legal aid inviolably it is needed financial help.
“No further funding of eight offices from UNDP project means closure and termination of working contracts for 28 employees, in other hand 35 percent of Kosovo citizens will remain without access to justice,” said Sutaj
In fulfilling of its legal mandate the agency closely cooperates with all partnership institutions in the country, and those international, especially with UNDP. Kosovo Constitution determines as a constitutional category, which is enabled to those people who do not have financial conditions to pay for these services. The Agency established in 2006 with the name of Commission for Legal Aid, which functioned as such until the law approval for the establishment of Agency for Legal Aid, which is valid from 2012. Presently, this agency acts in 13 Kosovo municipalities. The offices financed from Kosovo budget are organized in five municipalities
