In addition, in order to create a more complete picture of the procedures for determining the date and place of birth, in August of the current year Praxis submitted freedom of information requests to all basic courts asking for the number and outcome of the procedures initiated since 2012, and for the copies of petitions and decisions in these procedures. In addition, seeking to determine to what extent the parties in these procedures relied on free legal aid provided by local self-governments, and in how many procedures the guardianship authorities were petitioners, Praxis submitted freedom of information requests also to city and municipal administrations, and to social welfare centres (SWC). One of the most significant novelties in 2016 was the entry into force of the provisions of the Law on Administrative Procedure, which emphasised the obligation of the authorities to obtain evidence ex officio. Although these provisions do not have a direct impact on the possibility to acquire certain rights (because the conditions for acquiring rights are prescribed by substantive rather than by procedural regulations), their consistent implementation would significantly speed up these procedures and make the position of parties easier, including the substantial savings. Therefore, since the entry into force of the new provisions of the Law on Administrative Procedure Praxis has monitored whether the authorities implement them consistently, primarily through the experiences of its beneficiaries, but also through the interviews with the employees of administrative bodies, which allowed an insight into the implementation of this regulation from a different aspect. Finally, this report also comments on the potentially important novelty as an opportunity to overcome one of the major remaining obstacles preventing the registration of children in birth registry books. In fact, in mid-October the ministers of health and public administration and local self-government presented the project entitled Baby, Welcome to the World. On that occasion, they announced that the procedure of registering babies at birth would be simplified. It remains to be seen in the upcoming period in which way the announced changes will be implemented, especially whether the children whose mothers do not have personal documents will be allowed to be registered immediately after birth, with all the necessary data, since it has not been possible to date. PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING THE DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH The procedure for determining the date and place of birth is a special non-contentious procedure introduced in the legal system in 2012 by the Amendments to the Law on NonContentious Procedure3. This procedure is intended for legally invisible persons who cannot prove the date and place of birth in the administrative procedure. This section of the report will point to some problem observed in these procedures also this year, which continue to hinder their implementation. The statistical data obtained from freedom of information requests will also be presented. LENGTH OF PROCEDURE: The length of procedure stands out as one of the most frequent irregularities also this year. The courts almost always exceed the deadline for issuing a decision. Very often the decision-issuing period is several times longer than prescribed by 3 Official Gazette of RS, no. 85/2012 2