Ms. Jelena Stošić (WOLEP member, Serbia): „I can freely say that WOLEP is a revolution in the legal profession”

WOLEP: Could you tell us a bit about yourself and your background as a lawyer in Belgrade? How did you become interested in specializing in real estate and construction, banking and finance, litigation, and international arbitration?

Jelena Stošić: My beginnings in the provision of legal assistance began at the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade, when I helped citizens in the so-called legal clinic in cooperation with non-governmental organizations to resolve various disputed legal issues and provide legal assistance. Working with people and real problems gave me an instant insight into the complexity and sensitivity of life situations that are sometimes simple and plain, and in other cases unreal and cinematic.

After the aforementioned legal clinic, I continued my student internship at the Agency for Restitution of the Republic of Serbia, and I also gained knowledge as an legal assistant in one of the capital city high schools.

After graduating, I became a legal trainee in 2015 and diligently performed my work in an office that dealt with a wide range of legal issues from all branches of law for 4 years.

In 2019, I became an attorney at law and an associate in the same office where I was a legal trainee, and in 2022, I continued my career as an independent attorney at law.

My field of activity ranged from office management and all that management entails, both legal and non-legal obligations and tasks, through team organization, conversations with clients, civil servants, notaries public, and executors, to court proceedings and the most complex types of legal assistance, such as the initiation of proceedings in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (which applications were successfully accepted and are now in the decision-making process), as well as participation in the arbitration proceedings of labor relations issues with international elements.

Since 2022, I have been a certified mediator in the peaceful resolution of disputes, registered in the register of the Ministry of Justice. The peaceful resolution of disputes is insufficiently developed in our country.

WOLEP: As a Serbian lawyer, what are some of the unique challenges and opportunities you face in the real estate market in your country? Are there any recent developments or trends that have caught your attention?

Jelena Stošić: Various problems, in some cases extremely difficult to solve, are the result of the mismatch between the factual situation and the data in the public books related to real estate.

By Serbian law, in addition to the legal basis (iustus titulus), the transfer of property rights from the holder to the acquirer also requires a modus aquirendi—the registration of the owner of the right in the public books related to real estate.

The Law on the State Survey and Real Estate Cadastre from the early 2000s talks about the transition from land registers to the real estate cadastre—a new, modern, comprehensive, and efficient state service.

That real estate cadastre was supposed to be a comprehensive register of property rights and other real rights on real estate, certain obligation rights related to real estate, real encumbrances and restrictions on the disposal of real estate, and also of real estate holders.

In practice, this real estate cadastre is, in many cases, an obstacle for owners of property and other real and obligational right holders to dispose of their rights, change them, acquire them, and extinguish them due to the slowness of decision-making, unresolved requests, data inconsistencies, and incorrect data, which often violate the rights guaranteed by the constitution—citizens rights to property.

Also, for some, the digitalization of the cadastre service is commendable, while for others, it is a limiting factor. Starting in 2020, physically going, waiting in lines, and filling out forms will be replaced by digital access to the electronic portal and submission of requests in the same form. For me, as a professional user—a lawyer—this digitization means better organization of time, easier and simpler submission of requests and monitoring of the course of cases, as well as faster resolution in the majority of cases, but for ordinary citizens, it means a limitation in the possibility of exercising rights due to electronic (il)literacy and no less access to the Internet, computer, etc.

WOLEP: Could you share any notable projects or cases you have worked on within the real estate sector in Serbia? What were the key challenges you encountered, and how did you overcome them?

Jelena Stošić: An important project in which I had the opportunity to participate as an attorney of law (provider of legal assistance to citizens) is the process of land expropriation for the construction of the Belgrade metro, a capital project of great importance for the capital city and, I can freely say, the country.

The construction of the Belgrade Metro, a high-capacity and completely independent rail system that forms the basis of public transportation in Belgrade, has been planned since the 1950s. Construction began on November 22, 2021, and the construction was preceded by a complex procedure of transferring a large number of targeted real estate properties from private to state property due to general interest and with compensation in the market value. As the realization of the project is just beginning, my participation in it will be extended until further notice.

The biggest problems that arose were the volume of work that needed to be followed up in an adequate way (the administrative body participates in the procedure, which most often does not have the working capacity to respond to everything within the legal deadlines) and the mismatch between the factual and legal conditions on the land as a result of long-term (decade-long) rights holders and administrative authorities failure to follow all legal changes by recording them in public books.

The way to overcome the problem is reflected in the great attention, precision, and time spent in the study of written documents and cooperation with the administrative bodies toward the common goal of the fastest and correct implementation of the project.

WOLEP: We understand that you are currently on maternity leave. How do you manage to maintain a work-life balance while being actively involved in demanding areas of law? Do you have any tips or strategies that have worked well for you?

Jelena Stošić: The law in Serbia is not favorable towards women entrepreneurs, so we still have some discriminatory provisions that treat women entrepreneurs as unemployed, that is, they do not give them the same rights as employed women.

Maternity leave, salary compensation, use of a spouse's leave to take care of a child, tax treatment—all of this is somehow denied or made difficult when it comes to a woman entrepreneur.

My maternity leave is only factual: I dedicate all my time to the baby; during his morning or afternoon nap I conduct conversations with clients; in the evening hours I start work on submissions, contracts, and preparations for court hearings, while the court hearings themselves require the hiring of additional help due to babysitting.

Work-life balance is not always possible; however, with the help of my family and colleagues, I was able to successfully perform all tasks for the past year and not fall behind in any segment of work.

Strategies that have worked well for me include better organization and use of electronic delivery and electronic portals of the state administration, which enabled me to perform the planned tasks faster, more efficiently, and no less successfully.

WOLEP: Within the WOLEP network, have you attended any webinars or events related to your practice areas? If so, which ones did you find particularly valuable or informative? Could you share some key takeaways from those webinars?

Jelena Stošić: As a member of the WOLEP network, I have so far attended seminars that are not directly related to my current field of activity but represent topics that encourage thinking, acquiring new knowledge, and improvement, while at the same time keeping pace with innovations and technologies that have yet to be studied in detail and legally regulated.

What is particularly important to me are the different views on topics and questions expressed by presenters, moderators, and participants.

The topics were carefully chosen and processed; they follow the trends in the world and provide new perspectives and ideas to me as a participant.

WOLEP: As a member of the WOLEP network, what is your overall assessment of the network's impact and value to your professional development?

Jelena Stošić: I can freely say that WOLEP is a revolution in the legal profession.

On the one hand, it is very simple—international connection, sharing of knowledge and experience, familiarization with trends and procedures—and on the other hand, it is a complex organization that requires the highest level of organization.

It could be brought under the adage that can be heard in our country: “If it doesn't exist, it should be invented."

Its importance is inestimable because it has no competition.

WOLEP: Are there any specific topics or areas of law that you would like to see covered in future WOLEP webinars or events? Is there a particular subject or speaker that you believe would greatly benefit the network and its members?

Jelena Stošić: For me, the issue of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is particularly interesting, namely, the increasing application in the EU and the implementation of provisions in the legislation of non-members of the European Union.

WOLEP: Finally, how do you envision your future involvement with WOLEP and its community of lawyers? Do you have any ideas for contributing your expertise, supporting other members, and/or collaborating on projects within the network?

Jelena Stošić: My participation in WOLEP activities is just beginning. The association certainly encouraged me to take action and improve, and now I see myself as a presenter of some important topics for the collective, a help to colleagues from the country and the region, and an active listener of all webinars in my field of interest.

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