RGZ Launches Partnership for Citizens for Cadastre
Four days after opening a complaints channel for its own staff, the Republic Geodetic Authority is calling on every city and municipality in Serbia to join a shared cadastre service network.
The Republic Geodetic Authority (RGZ) launched a national initiative called Partnership for Citizens on August 27, inviting every city and municipality in Serbia to take part. The idea is to stop local services and the cadastre from operating as separate worlds, so a citizen gets an answer at the very first counter they approach instead of having to hunt down the right institution themselves.
According to the institute’s statement, cities and municipalities will link their services to the cadastre’s own services and set up direct communication, so citizens can more easily get accurate information, expert help, and a clear path to resolving property matters. The principle behind the initiative is that there is no wrong counter, only a counter that serves whichever citizen walks up to it.
Part of the arrangement is also building up local governments’ capacity to provide legal aid, backed by expert support from the institute and direct cooperation with the relevant cadastre services. The goal is for a citizen who walks into a municipal office or a cadastre branch to get information and help on the spot, rather than being sent from one institution to another until they find the right one.
The initiative is being led by Dalibor Babic, acting director of the Republic Geodetic Authority, who said:
We are opening a new chapter in the work of RGZ. We don’t want citizens to have to find their own way through the institutions; the institutions have to connect and find their way to the citizen instead. RGZ is on the side of the citizens.
The institute is now calling on cities and municipalities across Serbia to formally join the initiative and become part of that national network.
A complaints channel opened four days earlier
Partnership for Citizens is the institute’s second move in the same week. On August 23, the Republic Geodetic Authority opened a dedicated email address, direktnodirektoru@rgz.gov.rs, where citizens can report rude, irresponsible, or unprofessional conduct by cadastre officials, as well as withheld information or unlawful actions.
A report should include the name of the service involved, the date and approximate time of the incident, a short description of the situation, and the case number if one exists. The institute noted that this channel does not replace the regular administrative procedure or appeals within a case, while suspected corruption still goes to a separate address, prijavikorupciju@rgz.gov.rs.
Two measures rolled out within days of each other, first the complaints channel and then the call for local governments to join a shared network, show Babic reworking the institute’s operations on two fronts at once: how individual officials treat citizens, and how the institute itself relates to cities and municipalities.
