In order to make the physical environment accessible, accessibility
standards in laws and by-laws must be implemented in practice.
In Serbia and Montenegro, the law on Construction and Planning
includes accessibility standards but they are rarely implemented.
In Serbia, the law was amended in 2003 and simply said that
that technical standards must be implemented without specifying
which ones. It is only in the by-law that accessibility
standards are mentioned. The law can be interpreted so that
technical standards encompass the accessibility standards
from the by-law but this is often not the case in practice.
In order to ensure the implementation of accessibility standards,
legislation related to building and planning must explicitly
state that accessibility standards are mandatory.
In Serbia, the law on Construction and Planning was recently
amended accordingly and states that designers, architects,
investors and builders who fail to implement these standards
in planning and construction of new public spaces will be
subject to economic sanctions.
This amendment was initiated by the Department of People
with Disabilities in the Ministry of Labour, Employment
and Social Affairs in cooperation with DPOs and in consultation
with the Ministry of Capital Investments. At first the amendment
was not approved but after DPOs, the Department of People
with Disabilities and the Association of Urban Planners
lobbied together, the amendment was accepted by the Parliamentary
Committee and was adopted last month by Parliament. Now
that the amendment has passed, it will need to be implemented
together with DPOs and competent actors and DPOs should
work with competent state monitoring bodies as well to evaluate
the implementation process.
The second way of ensuring that accessibility standards
are used in practice is through awareness raising.
There is a great need to work with experts and local authorities
responsible for the built environment to make them aware
of accessibility standards and how to apply them in practice.
Linked to this, awareness raising activities should also
be comprised of campaigns for including accessibility standards
in university curricula as well as in expert state exams.
Universities in Sarajevo, Belgrade and Novi Sad have begun
to informally include Universal Design and accessibility
into their lectures informally but it is only in Novi Sad
where it has become a formal part of the curriculum.
However, despite all positive changes in legislation, they
won’t mean anything unless they are applied in practice
at the local level so that local urban plans, local building
permits and local development plans have to include accessibility
standards. One of the main reasons that accessibility standards
are not implemented is because of a lack of awareness amongst
local authorities. Local actors such as building inspectors
and those issuing building permits will need to be trained
on accessibility standards as well as how to monitor compliance
of the law. Therefore, there is a great need to work with
local actors to raise their awareness around accessibility
issues. DPOs in Serbia are currently trying to get the Ministry
for Capital Investments to circulate a letter to local authorities
on implementing accessibility standards in cooperation with
DPOs.
What is public procurement’s role in making public transportation
accessible?
Public transportation legislation in the region is very
general which makes it difficult to amend. However, accessibility
standards in public transportation can be introduced through
public procurement regulations. Public procurement legislation
can be very effective in making widespread changes in public
transportation because it ensures that all new transportation
obtained is accessible. Accessibility standards in public
procurement legislation can also play a supportive role
in moving towards a barrier-free environment by ensuring
these standards are met in design and construction1.
How can anti-discrimination legislation make changes in
the environment?
Anti-discrimination legislation on disability has the power
to force changes in the built environment by implying that
an inaccessible space open to the public is a form of discrimination.
In the anti-discrimination legislation in Serbia, it states
that public buildings and services must provide access to
people with disabilities. It also stipulates that if a person
with disabilities is refused access to public transportation
it is an act of discrimination.
Anti-discrimination is also important for another reason;
it can encourage a new way of thinking about the disability
and the importance of a barrier-free environment. In anti-discrimination
laws, they make it very clear that if the present environment
is not accessible, all new buildings must be and that deadlines
and resources must be dedicated to adapting the current
built environment. The power of example is crucial with
the adoption of anti-discrimination Tatic explains. Real
change will happen when an actor is sanctioned for non-compliance.
What role will the UN Convention on the Rights and Dignity
of People with Disabilities play on making the environment
accessible?
The convention will impact the accessibility of the environment
in two ways: legally the states that sign and ratify the
convention will have a legal obligation to implement accessibility
standards but this time on an international level. Since
accessibility is one of the key elements of the convention,
it is natural that it should be one of the focal points
in the monitoring process. Therefore, every report on implementation
of the convention will have to deal with accessibility putting
pressure on states to make the environment barrier-free.
Secondly, the convention will bring tremendous awareness
raising potential to disability issues in general. It will
carry great strength when one can say to competent decision
makers and institutions that accessibility is now an international
obligation. If there is a state that has little to no accessibility
it will reflect badly on an international level.
1 Architects
Council of Europe, CEMR, CO.IN, CEN, Eurocities, FIEC, EDF,
EIDD, ELA, AGE, Info-Handicap, Neumannconsult, ProASolutions,
The City of Gdynia, “Good intentions are not enough: a guide
to the implementation of best practices in accessibility
in public procurement”, Build-for-All Reference Manual,
(Brussels: EU Commission, 2006): 8.
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