The Protector of Citizens asked the State Audit Institution to act upon citizens' requests in accordance with the law governing the work of that institution, i.e., to decide on received requests by issuing a decision on which there will be a right to appeal and the right to initiate an administrative dispute.

In the opinion sent to the SAI, after receiving information, based on the act of cooperation, from that institution on the complaint of a citizen regarding the nostrification of professional titles, the Protector of Citizens stated that the SAI should act by adopting decisions to reject or adopt the request, against which citizens will have the right on appeal.

The Protector of Citizens received a complaint from a citizen who addressed the SAI with a request to obtain a certificate for an auditing title-state auditor, i.e., nostrification of the professional title he holds, but that institution only informed him that the requested certificate is not a certificate of professional auditing titles within the competence of the SAI, and cannot be subject to nostrification.

In its statement to the Protector of Citizens, the SAI did not explicitly state how it acted upon the complainant's request for nostrification of professional titles acquired abroad and in what form it made a decision on the request, i.e., whether it conducted an administrative procedure and whether it passed an administrative act.

The Protector of Citizens determined that the SAI's response did not take the form of an administrative act to which the citizen would have the right to appeal, and that the SAI's response was written in the form of a notice without reason for refusal and without a decision with an instruction on legal remedy.

Accordingly, the Protector of Citizens believes that the SAI should act in accordance with Article 7 of the Law on the State Audit Institution.

The Protector of Citizens Zoran Pasalic once again appealed to all citizens of the Republic of Serbia to adhere to the prescribed protection measures and to be vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus, and pointed out that this is the best answer to get out of the difficult epidemiological situation in which the whole country finds itself.

"The situation with the epidemic of the Covid-19 virus in the Republic of Serbia is becoming alarming. The number of infected and the number of dead have been very worrying for a long time, and that is why I appeal to the citizens to adhere to epidemiological protection measures and to be vaccinated. In the circumstances in which we now find ourselves, vaccination against the Covid-19 virus is the best answer", said Pašalić.

Pasalic emphasized that vaccination of citizens is the fastest and easiest way to get out of the difficult epidemiological situation in which all citizens of the Republic of Serbia find themselves, both those infected with the Covid-19 virus and those suffering from other diseases, who cannot exercise their right to treatment due to the situation with the epidemic.

"The right to health is one of the basic human rights, and its violation for any reason entails the violation of other rights. Therefore, the competent authorities of the Republic of Serbia should undertake everything to ensure the guaranteed rights of citizens by creating conditions for the full realization of their right to health", said the Protector of Citizens.

Pasalic said that the pandemic has changed our lives and daily functioning and that is why he believes that vaccination is the best way out of this difficult situation in which the most important thing is to save the lives of citizens.

Human trafficking is one of the most serious and drastic forms of violation of the basic human rights of victims, and the most common victims, primarily of sexual and labor exploitation, are women and children. That is why it is very important that we advocate for the fight against human trafficking not only on this day, but every day of the year, said the Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić today, on the occasion of 18 October, the EU Anti-Trafficking Day.

Pašalić emphasized that he has been dealing with the protection of victims of human trafficking since 2003 and is thoroughly acquainted with this problem. Human trafficking is a global problem and one of the most perfidious forms of crime in the world, affecting the lives of millions of people around the world and depriving them of their dignity. Every five minutes, one person in the world becomes a victim of human trafficking. The Protector of Citizens pointed out that experiences show that people tend to think in a way that "it can happen to someone else and somewhere else", and not in our closest environment and to our closest ones. He stated that the coronavirus pandemic has created circumstances in which human trafficking is developing faster than before, and the most endangered groups are seasonal workers and migrants.

Pašalić added that the Protector of Citizens, as an independent state body, has experience in conducting procedures to control the legality and regularity of the work of competent bodies after learning about a case of human trafficking, both on citizens' complaints and on his own initiative, so he initiated the idea to include in the new Law on the Protector of Citizens a provision according to which the Protector of Citizens will perform the duties of an independent national rapporteur in the field of human trafficking.

The Protector of Citizens submitted to the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia an Initiative to amend the Law on Property Taxes, which, when calculating the usable floor area within a roof space, would include into calculation those parts of the attic in which its clear height is at least 1.5 meters. The Protector of Citizens addressed the National Assembly with this initiative after receiving a complaint from a citizen on the decision on property tax, who believes that the tax calculation is wrong since the usable area of his apartment in the attic is smaller than the one determined by the decision. Namely, according to his allegations, it is necessary to distinguish between the usable area and the wall-to-wall area, because the usable area coincides with the wall-to-wall area on all floors, except in the attic.

Due to the above, by applying the provisions of the Law on Property Taxes, taxpayers of property taxes for apartments in the attic have been brought into an unequal position in relation to taxpayers of property taxes for apartments on other floors. The value of living space with a height of up to 150 cm in the attic cannot be equated with the value of living space with a minimum height of 260 cm, which is the standard height to be able to live, work and live in that space.