Regulations have prevented a number of Serbia’s citizens from exercising their right to an identification card for quite some time now. Some cannot exercise this right because they do not have a permanent or temporary place of residence, which is one of the prerequisites for obtaining an ID card under the present regulations. Namely, no citizen of the Republic of Serbia may apply for his or her basic personal documents unless s/he is registered as a resident at a specific address.Persons without personal documents are facing insurmountable difficulties in exercising their fundamental human and civil rights, such as the right of access to health and social care, the rights to employment, housing, education, suffrage. Vulnerable groups of the population, notably homeless persons and persons living in informal settlements, are particularly at risk. Without personal documents, they become “legally invisible” i.e. foreigners in their own state.
In its 2010 Progress Report, the European Commission noted the problems regarding access to personal documents. Consequently, the Action Plan on the Fulfilment of the Recommendations in the 2010 Progress Report lays down that the Ministry of Internal Affairs shall draft a law on permanent and temporary residence. Such a law has not, however, been drafted yet.
We are of the view that the state should as soon as possible establish a legal framework unconditionally enabling persons not registered at an address to realise their rights to IDs. The adequate regulation of this matter calls for the explicit guarantee of the right to personal documents to persons without permanent residence, without giving the competent authorities broad discretionary powers in deciding on the justifiability of the applications.
