: 
UPDATE: The Croatian Legal System and Legal Research
By Dunja Kuecking, Milivoje Žugi?, and Marija Glibota
Dunja Kuecking is a graduate of the Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Zagreb (1983). Since 1996, she has been the head of the Center for legal research and documentation, Intellectio Iuris, whose job is to analyze, systematize, and make available on the Internet a catalogue of court practices and legal articles in Croatia. Intellectio Iuris is a legal database of Croatia's laws, court decisions, articles and interpretations, and selected documents in English.
Milivoje Žugi? is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb (1969). He worked as a judge until 1982, when he entered a private law practice. He lives and works in Zagreb, and specializes in land registry law. He is the author of a paper about the legal position of clients of the Bank of Ljubljana (Ljubljanska Banka) after the dissolution of former Yugoslavia.
Marija Glibota is a graduate of the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb (2006). She is working at the Center for legal research and documentation Intellectio Iuris as a legal information specialist. Intellectio Iuris is a legal database of Croatia's laws, court decisions, articles and interpretations, and selected documents in English.
Published October 2009
Table of Contents
The Structure of the Croatian Government
Courts of General Jurisdiction
Non-governmental organizations in Croatia
Harmonisation of Laws with the European Union regulation (acquis communautaire)
How did the Republic of Croatia come into being and what is its legal basis? Croatia was established with the dissolution of Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) and it is one of its legal successors. The document that supports its existence as an independent state is the Constitutional Decree of Sovereignty and Independence of Republic of Croatia, published on June 25, 1991.
Therein, the Republic of Croatia proclaims its sovereignty and independence from the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia.
The second document that justifies Croatia’s independence is the decision the Parliament made on October 8, 1991 to seek international acceptance as an independent state. In Croatia’s national law, this date is considered to be the first day of the beginning for Croatia as an independent state although Croatia was not officially recognized as a state until January 15, 1992. That date could be considered its international birthday.
A hierarchy of legal norms characterizes the legal system in Croatia. They are arranged in four levels, and the norms lower in rank have to be congruent with those of higher levels. The highest norm is the Constitution – the fundamental law. The constitution was originally made on December 22, 1990. It went through some important changes in 1997, 2000 and 2001 (Constitution of the Republic of Croatia Official gazette number 56/90, 135/97, 8/98- consolidated version, 113/00, 124/00 – consolidated version and 28/01).
It is based on two important principles: division of power in the government and the rule of law. Ranking in importance after the constitution are constitutional laws (4), international contracts, laws and sub-statutory acts. The Parliament of the Republic of Croatia enacts the first three while bodies of executive power are bringing sub statutory acts.
Croatia is a parliamentary democracy. Croatia possesses a multi-party system based on the principle of three branches of government (system of tripartite authority).
To some experts, its specific jurisdiction makes the Constitutional Court a fourth authority/power.
Each one of these branches of government has the highest authority in its sphere of influence. The legislative branch has the highest authority in making laws, executive in executing those laws, and judicial in judging its subjects. The Constitutional court could be sui generis considered a fourth portion of the government. The chiefs of local executive bodies are nominated and are exempted from their posts by the President.
For additional information, please also see the final section in this guide, Online Resources in Croatia.
The highest organ of the judicial branch is the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia (Sabor Republike Hrvatske). The Parliament has only one house, and representatives (zastupnici) to the Parliament are elected in direct parliamentary elections, held once every four years. Eligible voters are all men and women over the age of 18. The Election Act regulates the elections in detail.
The Parliament has 152 representatives and authority to enact laws in any session where a majority of representatives are present. There are two kinds of laws:
The Parliament is entitled to declare Organic laws if the “qualified majority” (2/3 of present representatives) votes for their passing.
Considering the fact that Croatia is a parliamentary democracy, the executive power is divided between the President (Predsjednik Republike Hrvatske) and the Cabinet (Government of the Republic of Croatia). The President is elected in direct presidential elections for a period of five years, and can serve two terms. The President represents the state in the country and abroad, and his powers are essentially those of state protocol. He has the authority to dissolve the Parliament and he proposes a candidate for a mandate of Prime Minister. The Cabinet holds the highest executive power in Croatia. According to protocol, the President appoints the Prime Minister of the Cabinet who is usually a president of the party that has most votes in the Parliament. The Prime Minister is confirmed by the Parliament, and he has the power to appoint the members of his Cabinet. The Cabinet of the Republic of Croatia is made up of the Prime Minister and 13 ministries and one vice-president of Government for Economy.
The Government of the Republic of Croatia is a body which shall exercise the executive powers in conformity with the Constitution and law; its internal organization, operational procedures and decision-making process are defined by the Law on the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Rules of Procedure of the Government.
The Government shall pass decrees, introduce legislation, propose the state budget and enforce laws and other regulations enacted by the Croatian Sabor. Within the scope of its powers, the Government shall also pass decrees, administrative acts and orders on appointments and relief of appointed officials and civil servants. The Government shall decide in cases of conflict of jurisdiction between government institutions, give answers to representatives' questions, prepare proposals of laws and other regulations, give opinion on laws and other regulations and adopt strategies of economic and social development.
The Government shall consist of the Prime Minister, plus one or more Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers.
The Government shall answer to the Croatian Sabor. The Prime Minister and the members of the Government shall be jointly responsible for decisions passed by the Government and individually responsible for their respective portfolios.
Pursuant to the decision of the Croatian Sabor which expressed confidence in the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the President of the Republic shall issue an order appointing the Prime Minister, counter-signed by the Chairman of the Croatian Sabor; the order appointing the members of the Government shall be issued by the Prime Minister and counter-signed by the Chairman of the Croatian Sabor.
The term of office of the members of the Government shall begin with the date of appointment and terminate with the date of relief.
List of ministries (names, addresses, telephones, faxes, E-mails and URLs)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration
Trg
Nikole Subica Zrinjskog 7-8
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4920 149
Fax: +385 1 455 1795
E-mail: ministar@mvpei.hr
Minister: Gordan Jandrokovi?
Ministry of the Internal Affairs
Ulica grada Vukovara 33
10 000
Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 612 2111
Fax: +385 1 612 2452
E-mail: pitanja@mup.hr
Minister: Tomislav Karamarko
Ministry of Defense
Trg Petra Kresimira IV 1
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 456 7111
Fax: +385 1 456 7963
E-mail: infor@morh.hr
Minister: Branko Vukelic
Ministry of Science, Education and Sports
Donje Svetice38
10 000
Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 456 9000
Fax: +385
1 4617 962
E-mail: ured@mzos.hr
Minister: Phd. Radovan Fuchs
Ministry of Finance
Katanciceva 5
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 459 1333
Fax: +385 1 492 2586
E-mail: kabinet@mfin.hr
Minister: Ivan Suker
Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship
Ulica
grada Vukovara 78
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 610 6111
Fax: +385 1 6109 110
E-mail: info@mingorp.hr
Minister: Damir Polancec
Ministry of Culture
Runjaninova 2
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 486 6666
Fax: +385 1 4816 755
E-mail: web@min-kulture.hr
Minister: Bozo Biskupic
Ministry of Environmental Protection and Physical Planing and
Construction
Republike Austrije 20
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 378 2444
Fax: +385 1 377 2822
E-mail: ministrica@mzopu.hr
Minister: Marina Matulovic-Dropulic
Dezmanova
ulica 6 and 10
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 3710 600
Fax: +385 1 371 0602
E-mail: ministar@pravosudje.hr
Minister: Phd. Ivan Simonovic
Ministry of Sea, Transport and Development
Prisavlje
14
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6169 111
Fax: +385 1 6169 473
E-mail: ministar@mmtpr.hr
Minister: Bozidar Kalmeta
Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
Ksaver
200 a
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 460 7555
Fax: +385 1 467 7091
E-mail: darko.milinovic@mzss.hr
Minister: Darko Milinovic
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development
Ulica grade Vukovara 78
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 610 6111
Fax: +385 1 610 9201
E-mail: office@mps.hr
Minister: Petar Cobankovic
Ministry of Regional Development Strategy, Forestry and Water Management
Baboniceva
121
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6400 600
Fax: +385 1 6400 644
E-mail: glasnogovornik@mrrsvg.hr
Minister: Bozidar Pankretic
Ministry of Family, Veterans Affairs and Intergenerational Solidarity
Trg hrvatskih velikana 6
10 000
Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 230 8800
Fax: +385
1 230 8852
E-mail: mobms@mobms.hr
Minister: Tomislav Ivic
Prisavlje
14
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6169 111
Fax: +385 1 6169 181
E-mail: damir.bajs@mint.hr
Minister: Damir Bajs
Ministry of Public Administration
Maksimirska 63
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 235 7555
Fax:+385 1 235 7600
E-mai: vzonjic@uprava.hr
Minister: Davorin Mlakar
Minister without Portofolio: Bianca Matkovic
Trg sv. Marka 2
Tel: 385 1 6303 343
Fax: 385 1 6303 344
Government of the Republic of Croatia
Trg sv. Marka 2
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4569 222
Fax: +385 1 6303 023
Prime minister: Jadranka Kosor
E-mail: predsjednik@vlada.hr
http://www.vlada.hr
Deputy prime minister:
Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship: Damir Polancec
Trg sv. Marka 2
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4569 222
Fax: +385 1 6303 023
Vice Prime Minister for Regional Development, Reconstruction and Return: Slobodan Uzelac, Phd.
Trg sv. Marka 2
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4569 266
Fax: +385 1 6303 045
E-mail: slobodan.uzelac@vlada.hr
Vice Prime Minister: Djurdja Adlesic
Trg sv. Marka 2
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4569 236
Fax: +385 1 6303 034
E-mail: djurdja.adlesic@vlada.hr
Vice
Prime Minister for Regional Development, Forestry and Water Management: Bozidar
Pankretic
Trg sv. Marka 2
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4569 222
Fax: +385 1 6303 034
Offices of the Government
Government
Trg Sv.
Marka 2
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 456 9222
Fax: +385 1 630 3023
http://www.vlada.hr
Public Relations Office
Trg Sv. Marka 2
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 456 9239
Fax: +385 1 630 3022
E-mail: zlatko.mehun@vlada.hr
Katanciceva 5
10000
Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4686 860
Fax: +385 1 4677 070
E-mail: mato.regvar@javnanabava.hr
Office of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia
Trg Sv. Marka 2
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 456 9210
Fax: +385 1 630 3019
Office for Social Partnership
Mesni?ka 23
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 630 3093
Fax: +385 1 630 3092
E-mail: soc.partnerstvo@vlada.hr
Office for Protocol
Trg Sv.
Marka 2
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6303 081
Fax: +385 1 6303 086
E-mail: protokol@vlada.hr
Office for Prevention of Drug Abuse
Preobrazenska
4
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 487 8122
Fax: +385 1 487 8120
E-mail: ured@uredzadroge.hr
Office
for National Minorities
Mesni?ka 23
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 456 9358
Fax: +385 1 456 9324
E-mail: nacionalne.manjine@vlada.hr
Office
for Internal Supervision
Grada Vukovara 72/IV
10000 Zagreb
Phone:
+385 1 634 5333
Fax: +385 1 634 5332
E-mail: una@zg.htnet.hr
Office for Human Rights
Trg Maršala Tita 8/1
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 487 7660
Fax: +385 1 481 3430
e-mail: ured@ljudskaprava-vladarh.hr
Office for Gender Equality
Mesni?ka 23
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 630 3090
Fax: +385 1 4569 296
E-mail: ured.ravnopravnost@vlada.hr
Office for Cooperation with NGOs
Ulica grada Vukovara 78
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 610 6500
Fax: +385 1 610 9972
e-mail: info@uzvrh.hr
General
Administration Office of the Croatian Government and Parliament
Opaticka 8
10000
Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4569-569, 630 3330
Fax: +385 1 630 3000
E-mail: drazena.arar@sabor.hr
Legislation Office
Trg sv. Marka 2
Phone: +385 1 4569 244
Fax: +385 1 4569 386
E-mail: zakonodavstvo@vlada.hr
Central State Administrative Offices
Central State Administrative Office for e-Croatia of the Government of
the Republic of Croatia
Trg Sv.
Marka 2
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 456 9222
Fax: +385 1 630 3884
E-mail: e-hrvatska@vlada.hr
Central State Administrative for Development Strategy and Coordination of
EU funds
Radni?ka cesta 80/5
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 456 9205
Fax: +385 1 630 3216
E-mail: strateg@vlada.hr
Ivana Lucica
6
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6346 456
Fax: +385 1 6346 476
E-mail: imovina@imovina-hr.hr
State Administration Organizations
Central Bureau of Statistics
Ilica 3
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 480 6111
Fax: +385 1 481 7666
e-mail: ured@.dzs.hr
State Bureau of Metrology
Ulica grada Vukovara 284
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 563 00 00
Fax:
e-mail: pisarnica@dznm.hr
Gruška 20
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6165 444
Fax: +385 1 6165 484
E-mail: dgu@dhu.hr
Ulica
grada Vukovara 78
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 610 6111, 610 6115
Fax: +385 1 610 9115
E-mail: info@inspektorat.hr
State Intellectual Property Office
Ulica
grada Vukovara 78
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 610 6111, 610 6100, 610 6101
Fax: +385 1 611 2017
E-mail: ipo@patent.htnet.hr
Meteorological and Hydrological Service
Gric 3
p.p.88
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4565 666
Fax: +385 1 4851 901
E-mail: dhmz@cirus.dhz.hr
National Protection and Rescue Directorate
Nehajska 5
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 3650 084
Fax: +385 1 3650 025
E-mail: info@duzs.hr
State Office for Nuclear Safety
Ul. Grada Vukovara 284/X
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4863 100
Fax: +385 1 4830 103
E-mail: info@duzs.hr
State Institute of Radiation Protection
Frankopanska 11
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4881 770
Fax: +385 1 4881 780
E-mail: info@duzs.hr
Trade and Investment Promotion Agency
Hebrangova
34
10 000 Zagreb
Phone +385 1 4866 001
Fax: +385 1 4866 008
E-mail: info@apiu.hr
Savska
cesta 41/VI
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 617 6448
Fax: +385 1 617 6450
E-mail: agencija.ztn@aztn.hr
Agency
for Transaction and Mediation in Immovable Properties
Savska cesta 41/VI
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6331 600
Fax: +385 1 6177 045
E-mail: apn@apn.hr
Central Register of Insured Persons (REGOS)
Gajeva 5
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: + 385 1 489 8900
Fax: + 385 1 489 8903
E-mail: regos@regos.hr
Croatian Academic and Research Network CARNet
Josipa Marohnica bb
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1616 5616
Fax: +385 1 616 5615
E-mail: ured@CARnet.hr
Croatian Agency for Small Business (HAMAG)
Prilaz Gjure Dezelica 7
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4881 000
Fax: +385 1 4881 009
e-mail: hamag@hamag.hr
Ante
Kovacica 10
44 000 Sisak
Phone: +385 44 554 151
Fax: +385 44 554 142
E-mail: hcr@hcr.hr
Radnicka
cesta 1
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6126 000
Fax: +385 1 6126 039
E-mail: hzz@hzz.hr
Croatian Hydrographic Institute
Zrinsko-Frankopanska
161
21000 Split
Phone: +385 21 361 840
Fax: +385
21 347242
e-mail: office@hhi.hr
Croatian Information and Documentation Referral Agency (HIDRA)
Trg Marsala Tita 3
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 485 5827
Fax: +385 1 485 5655
e-mail: ured@hidra.hr
Croatian Institute for Health Insurance
Margaretska
3
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 480 6333
Fax: +385 1 480 6345
E-mail: glasnogovornica@hzzo-net.hr
Croatian Pension Insurance Institute
Mihanoviceva
3
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 459 5500
Fax: +385 1 457 7168
E-mail: mile.rukavina@mirovinsko.hr
Ivana
Lucica 6
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 634 6111
Fax: +385 1 6115 568
e-mail: hfp@hfp.hr
Trg Marsala
Tita 8
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4886 840
Fax: +385 1 4886 850
E-mail: info@azo.hr
Koturaska 43
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 612 7111
Fax: +385 1 6128 089
E-mail: info@fina.hr
Fund for the compensation of expropriated property
Ivana
Lucica 6
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6346 110
Fax: +385 1 6346 262
e-mail: info@fnoi.hr
State Agency for Deposit Insurance and Bank Rehabilitation
Jurisiceva 1
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 481 3222
Fax: +385 1 481 9107
e-mail: dab@dab.hr
Croatian Personal Data Protection Agency
Pantovcak 258
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4609 000
Fax: +385 1 4609 010
E-mail: azop@azop.hr
Center for Human Rights
Ulica kralja Drzislava 6
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4636 548
Fax: +385 1 4653 010
State Institute for Nature Protection
Savska cesta 41/XXIII, p.p.50
10 144 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4866 192
Fax: +385 1 4866 171
E-mail: info@dzzp.hr
Croatian Agency for Supervision of Financial Services (HANFA)
Miramarska 28
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4886 740
Fax: +385 1 4811 406
E-mail: info@hanfa.hr
Ulica grada Vukovara 78
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6106 322
Fax: +385 1 6109 322
E-mail: akreditacija@akreditacija.hr
Savska cesta 41/XVI (p.p.19)
10 144 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6312 400
Fax: +385 1 6312 410
E-mail: hgi@cgi.hr
Ulica grada Vukovara 78
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6106 095
Fax: +385 1 6109 321
E-mail: hzn@hzn.hr
Tkalciceva 19
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4813 292
Fax: +385 1 4813 304
E-mail: revizija@revizija.hr
Monetary power
The National Bank of Croatia
The National bank of
Croatia is the highest organ of monetary power in Croatia. The head of the
National Bank of Croatia is a Governor.
Trg hrvatskih velikana 3
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 456 4555
Fax: +385 1 461 0551
Independent Organizations
The
Croatian Bar Association
The Croatian Bar Association was organized in 1929, based on an Act on Barristers of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia along with seven other bar associations. The Bar Association is an independent organization that promotes practice of law as an independent occupation and protects the rights of all of its members. Independence of the Croatian Bar Association is mostly reflected in the fact that it decides on its own tariff rates which includes attorneys' fees in Croatia. As a self-governed body, Croatian Bar Association closely monitors the work of all attorneys in Croatia and imposes and enforces disciplinary actions against them if a need for it arises. Croatian Bar Association is a member of Union Internationale Des Avocats.
Today, the Bar has 3689 members and 1661 law trainees. The candidates are applicants to the Bar that graduated law school but do not possess sufficient knowledge to practice law. In order to become full fledged members, candidates have to complete three years of apprenticeship as a paralegal in a solicitor’s office, four years of practice working in courts system, or five years of practice as a company lawyer and pass a bar examination. The Bar has its representation in all major cities in Croatia.
Presently, the legal profession in the Republic of Croatia is regulated by Legal Profession Act - Official Gazette no. 9 / 94 of 27 January 1994. which Act has been alternated in 2008 – Official Gazette no. 117/08 of 26 September 2008., and by Code of ethics which establishes the principles and rules that lawyers and lawyer trainees are obliged to respect in law practice. Also there is a special Act which deals with free legal aid for people in need (Official gazette no. 62/08 of 30 May 2008.)
Practice of law in Croatia is only allowed to individuals who have Croatian citizenship and who are enrolled in the Croatian Bar Association. This means that foreigners have no legal right to represent parties before the Croatian courts and other Government bodies. Only in the proceedings before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Croatia with an international element, the parties may be represented by attorneys who are enrolled in the directory of bar associations in other countries.
Upon Croatia’s entry into the EU, attorneys from other member countries within the EU will be allowed to attain their independent law offices pending their completion of certain conditions. This will place them on equal ground with all other law offices in Croatia.
Koturaska 53/2
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 6165 200
Fax: +385 1 6170 686
e-mail: odvjetnicka.komora@odvj-komora.hr
http://www.hok-cba.hr/Default.aspx
Croatian Chamber of Notaries - Croatian
chamber of notaries is an association of Croatian public notaries. Its seat is
in Zagreb, and its function is, with the help of Ministry of Justice, to supervise
the work of all public notaries. Public notaries are persons of public trust
and their work consists in assembling and publishing public documents
concerning all legal transactions, statements and facts that are basis for
establishing rights. It witnesses the signatures and certifies the validity of
personal identification papers. They act as a safe depository for documents,
money or objects etc. Public notaries are independent proprietors and notary is
their sole occupation.
Rackog 10
Phone: +385 1 455 6566
Fax: +385 1 455 1544
e-mail: hjk@hjk.hr
The Croatian Chamber of Economy - is an independent professional and business organization of all legal entities engaging in business. It was established in 1852, organized in European tradition and on the so-called continental model of Austrian and German chambers with compulsory membership. Every company registered with the Commercial Court is a member of the Chamber.
The Croatian Chamber of Economy consists of the Headquarters in Zagreb and 20
county chambers. Among these, the Zagreb Chamber represents both the City of
Zagreb and Zagreb County. Functionally, the CCE consists of 8 departments dealing
with the respective branch of the economy, and it also includes 40 professional
associations, 87 groups and 19 affiliations. Apart from this, within the CCE
act five business centers, Permanent Arbitration Court, Conciliation Centre,
Court of Honour and CCE Office for Areas of Special State Concern.
The Croatian Chamber of Economy is run by the Assembly, Management and
Supervisory Boards, President, who is elected by the Assembly, and five Vice
Presidents. The members of the Supervisory Board and Assembly are elected from
among reputable business people. Together with the Chamber’s working bodies,
they promote, represent and protect their members’ common interests before
governmental authorities home and abroad.
Rooseveltov trg 2
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4561 555
Fax: +385 1 4828 380
E-mail: hgk@hgk.hr
Judicial power in general is regulated through Law of the Courts and is inspired by the idea of independent courts. State Judiciary Council appoints all judges for life as an independent state institution formed of Parliament members, judicial authorities, well-respected public persons and members of Croatian Bar Association. Minister of Justice names the presidents of the courts from among the appointed judges and the president of the Supreme Court of Croatia is chosen by the Parliament based on the proposition from the Cabinet.
Types of courts:
Courts of General Jurisdiction are the cornerstones of
judicial practice in Croatia. These courts judge in all disputes except in
those where law explicitly determines jurisdiction of another court. These
courts are organized hierarchically in three instances and are divided into
regions.
A) Municipal Courts
Municipal Courts are courts with first instance jurisdiction in both civil and
penal cases. In penal litigation the courts judge in all cases where the
penalty goes up to 10 years. The novelty is that legal persons can also be
liable for criminal acts. In civil litigation these courts judge as first
instance courts in all judicial, extra-judicial and execution procedures,
especially in litigation against unlawful actions, and lawsuits for correction
of information.
Municipal courts hold land registers that are the only legally valid registry service of real rights in Croatia. Reform of the land registry is taking place right now. Thanks to the international donations lady ministry of justice is conducting a reform. The main goal of the project is to enable fast and transparent insight in to the legal state of real estate in the Republic of Croatia. It should help economic governing and encourage foreign investments.
B) County Courts
County courts are almost exclusively second instance courts. On occasion these
courts are used as first instance courts: in penal litigation if the punishment
by law surpasses 10 years or by special regulations (the court decides in the
compensation amount for expropriated real estate, it decides on a right to
belong to an association etc.). It is important to recognize that a right to
appeal is a constitutional right of every citizen and a right of every legal
entity (for instance corporation) according to the practice of the
Constitutional court. The practice states that every legal entity can appeal
against any and all acts of either executive or judicial power, which determine
the entities’ legal rights and obligations. As all court decisions are acts of
judicial branch of government the structure allows for an appeal against any
decision made by the municipal courts. In that case district court acts as a
court of appeal.
Supreme Court is a court of full jurisdiction with respect to court decisions and it can void them, confirm them or revise them (unlike in France or Italy). The Supreme court is the highest court in Croatia and as the last instance it decides on extraordinary legal remedies against valid court decisions of the courts of general jurisdiction (dismissed appeal), and all other courts in Croatia. The Supreme Court is also an appellate court in all cases where municipal court was the first instance.
As we mentioned before the sources of law in Croatia are the Constitution, international contracts, laws and sub-statutory acts and the courts judge accordingly based on all four. Now, if a court is of an opinion that one of the laws in practice is unconstitutional it is it’s duty to inform the Supreme Court of that fact and stop trying all cases that fall under that particular law. The Supreme Court can then start the process of constitutional challenge – constitutional revue of the law (ocjena ustavnosti). If the Supreme Court does not do so in a prearranged time period the court that started the motion with the Supreme Court to file for the constitutional challenge should continue trying those cases in accordance with that law. The situation is quite different with sub-statutory acts. If a court deems a sub-statutory act unconstitutional it can refuse to apply it.
Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia
Trg
Nikole Subica Zrinjskog 3
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 486 2239
Fax: +385 1 486 2254
e-mail: vsrh@vsrh.hr
All commercial courts are hierarchical and are organized in two instances. First instance courts try cases between commercial subjects in bankruptcy proceedings, liquidation procedures, maritime litigation, litigation over patent and intellectual property rights, execution procedures, commercial violations and any other violations committed by enterprises. They have a broad jurisdiction in non-litigation procedures in accordance with the commercial laws of the country. For instance: it can call for a general meeting of shareholders, by request of minor shareholders it can impeach a bankruptcy liquidator of the commercial enterprise etc. The court manages the registry of all commercial enterprises in Croatia.
Appeals against judgments of first instance commercial courts are solved at High commercial court level (this is a full jurisdiction court) in its seat in Zagreb. The Supreme Court of Croatia decides upon the legal remedies against the decisions of High commercial court.
High commercial court
Berislaviceva 11
10 000 Zagreb,
Phone: + 385 1 489 6888
Fax + 385 1 4872 329
E-mail: vtsrh@vtsrh.htnet.hr
These courts pass judgments on physical and legal persons for misdemeanor offices.
They are organized in two instances:
Jurisdiction according to special legal remedies for appeals to the decisions of High Police Court is possible at the Supreme Court of Croatia.
High
Police Court
Dukljanova 3
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 461 1333
Fax: + 385 1 4611 291
E-mail: vpsrh@zg.hinet.hr
This court has its seat in Zagreb and is really interesting. The process before this court commences by filing an action to set aside second instance decision of the executive body or first instance decisions against which appeal is not allowed by regulation. (This supports the principle of having a constitutional right to an appeal although it is not really an appeal but an entirely new lawsuit) This court passes judgments solely by drawing information directly from the file and without directly determining the facts of the cases. It is not a full jurisdiction court and European court for human rights does not recognize its judicial powers.
Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia
Frankopanska
16
10 000 Zagreb,
Phone: +385 1 4807 800
E-mail: kontakt@upravnisudrh.hr
All court processes are thoroughly regulated by procedural rules under which legal remedies have an important role. Legal remedies are well-developed means that are available to civil personas in all different levels of judicial decision-making process. Arbitration is a viable option in every instance of the courts.
This is not really a court, although it is called that way, and it does have some judicial authority. It is definitely not a court with full jurisdiction. It was conceptualized as a fourth branch of government, and its authority is provided for by the Constitution. It is called the fourth portion of the government because it has some power over all three branches of government. The details of its day-to-day operation are set in a special constitutional act – Constitutional Court Act. The judges to the constitutional court are elected to run a term of eight years and there are provisions for their re-election. The purpose of this court is to keep the purity of the legal system. Its primary job is to solve constitutional challenges of laws and sub-statutory acts by performing their constitutional revues (ocjena zakonitosti, ocjena ustavnosti). The court has an authority to abolish laws if it rules that the particular law is unconstitutional (it rarely does so and most of the time the legislative power complies with its requests to modify the existing laws and bring them in accordance with the Constitution). There are two types of entities that can initiate the procedure before the Constitutional court:
In the latter case the constitutional court is not under obligation to start a process, but it has an obligation to rule on each proposition and state if it will or if it will not start the procedure and why. Judgments of regular courts are called verdicts and writs, while judgments of the constitutional court are called decisions and writs.
Decisions of the Constitutional Court are judgment in meritum and writs are judgments non meritum (these are the matters of process). All of the decisions of the constitutional court must be published in Narodne Novine – the official gazette of Republic of Croatia. Writs are published only if the constitutional court decides to publish them. It is important to recognize that all of the decisions of the constitutional court are considered a precedent (case law) because according to the constitution all courts and other governmental bodies must adhere to opinions and interpretations of the constitution and laws taken by constitutional court. Besides this fundamental jurisdiction this court helps in execution and control over the elections to the Parliament and solves any questions concerning the conflict of jurisdiction of the legislative, executive and judicial powers. The court decides on appeals against the decisions of State Judiciary Council to impeach judges due to disciplinary violations. Any breaches of human rights guaranteed by the constitution also fall under its jurisdiction. Only in these matters this court can interfere in particular judicial acts (litigation), and this is the sole reason it was named a court although it stands completely outside the hierarchy of the courts. If rights and freedoms of any individual citizen (or a legal entity) are hurt through any act of judicial or executive power, they have a right to protection, with respect to procedural assumptions (lawsuit was filed in allotted time period – 30 days, and all other legal remedies have been exhausted), based on a constitutional complaint (ustavna tuzba) - specific legal action before the constitutional court. If it pertains to a judicial act the constitutional court appears to be the court of the fourth instance (an instance above the Supreme Court) but with exclusive jurisdiction to confirm or deny the decisions validity. This is in accordance with European tradition and completely opposed with the practice in the United States of America.
Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia
Trg Sv. Marka 4
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4550 927
Fax: +385 1 455 1055
E-mail: Ustavni_sud@usud.hr
Human rights and basic civic freedoms in Croatia are guaranteed by chapters two and three of the Constitution that regulate the basic rights and freedoms of every citizen, non-citizen and a legal entity (as we mentioned before this is regulated trough the practice of the Constitutional Court of Croatia). Economic, social and cultural rights of individuals are also provided for in other parts of the Constitution.
Croatia is a co-signer of many international conventions and contracts (be that it signed them itself or accepted them as a legal successor of SFRY – Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia) concerning the human rights and freedoms, in particular: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International covenant of Civil and Political Rights, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Final Act of Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, Charter of Paris for a New Europe and what is most important, the European Convention of Basic Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.
This is important because it shows that Croatia has accepted the concept of international protection of human rights and liberties, and therefore accepted the jurisdiction of the European Court for Human Rights in the field of human rights and liberties. So, this court could be on occasion a fifth instance court.
Today the issue of human rights has moved towards social protection. The main objectives now are social security, protection of property, freedom of speech (press and other media), etc.
Many organizations for the protection of human rights and liberties act in the territory of Croatia, some of them are:
Florijana Andraseca 14
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 3096 620
Fax: +385 1 3096 621
E-mail: OSCE-Croatia@osce.org
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 3713 555
Fax: +385 1 3713 484
e-mail: sirovica@unhcr.ch
Antuna Bauera 4/II
Phone: +385 1 4613 630
Fax: +385 1 4613 650
10 000 Zagreb
E-mail: hho@hho.hr
All registered associations in the Republic of Croatia are entered into the Register of Associations of the Republic of Croatia. The Register is managed by the Central State Administrative Office for Public Administration of the Republic Of Croatia.
Domicile Associations - At this moment Republic of Croatia has 38 372 registered domicile associations. 408 of above-mentioned associations register as their main activity protection of law.
Foreign Associations - At this moment Republic of Croatia has 129 registered foreign associations.
The largest union organisation in Croatia is an INDEPENDENT CROATIAN UNION
Is consists of 56 smaller unions.
President: Kresimir Sever
Address: Trg Francuske revolucije 9/V - 10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 3908 620
Fax: +385 1 3908 621
E-mail: nhs@nhs.hr
http://www.nhs.hr
In 2004, Croatia was named a candidate for EU admission and as such has to face three major challenges: judicial reform, public administration reform (e-Government), and the fight against corruption and organized crime (State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia includes the Office for the Suppression of Organized Crime and Corruption).
Judicial reform is a comprehensive project whose main goal is improving and accelerating the work of all judicial bodies in Croatia, the establishment of the rule of law through the strengthening and updating of the judiciary, greater legal security to citizens, and efficiency in the prosecution of crime and corruption. Also there is a need for re-organization of the Courts as well as decreasing their numbers by 40%. The main requirements for successful implementation of the reforms are training judges and prosecutors, along with the computerization of the entire judicial system. In order to achieve the best possible expertise of judges, legal advisers, public prosecutors, deputy prosecutors, deputies and advisers, Justice Academy was established with the support of the EU project "Support to Reform of Justice-Judicial Academy in Croatia”.
Computerization involves making a network system and application solutions for the monitoring of all processes in the judicial system, establishment of central database in which data will be aggregated for entire Croatia. One of the priorities is the founding of a database in which data will be consolidated by combining land records along with real estate cadastre data, in an electronic form.
The e-Land-registry Certificates Project
In order to develop a strong and efficient system for land
administration, the
Real Property Registration and Cadastre project (RPRCP) was
initiated. The main aim of the project is to speed up real estate registration
and real estate ownership rights in Cadastre offices of the State Geodetic
Administration and the land registry offices of Municipal courts. At the state
level, the
Land-registry Database of the Republic of Croatia is
organizationally and technologically a united body of data which consists of
land-registers recorded by electronic data analysis (EDA – land-register)
and cadastre real property completed by electronic data processing (digital
cadastre plan with associated cadastre data).
Today an on-line service for digital land registry with access to databases of around 109 courts (e-izvadak.pravosudje.hr) is accessible to the public.
The e-Cadastre Project
The Central Office of the State Geodetic Directorate maintains cadastre data
for the Republic of Croatia which unifies data from all of the 115 cadastre
offices. In November 2005, a browser for cadastre data was established within the e-Cadastre project and
thus providing insight via the Internet into the central cadastre database of
the Republic of Croatia. The cadastre database contains more than 16 million
registered land plots which are entirely accessible by using the web browser,
that is, the e-Cadastre project. The e-Cadastre service enables checking of
cadastre plots, authentication of data entries as well as latest data changes
and documentation based on which changes were made. An insight into cadastre
data is possible by using the number of the cadastre plot or the number on the
ownership document in a chosen cadastre municipality. Data available through
the Browser show the official situation of cadastre data on a particular day.
Considering that e-Cadastre contains stored information on all cadastre plots
in Croatia, which makes it the most complete database on the spatial situation
in the Republic of Croatia, e-Cadastre is becoming very important in solving
cadastre issues. It increases the security in legal real estate trade, the
development of spatial plans and reconstruction and maintenance of land
registries. With a complete insight into all cadastre plots in the Republic of
Croatia, the main condition for system transparency – as one of the main
principles in fighting various injustices in the operations and corruption, is
met.
The e-Court registry Project
The Court registry contains all entities
that are being founded including trading companies, co-ops, institutions, etc.
The Court registry contains accurate data on the name, headquarters,
activities, board members, company and capital stock. The insight into the
Court registry via the Internet was made possible already in 1995. A simpler
registration of business subjects is one of the more important activities of
the Ministry of Justice in creating a suitable business enterprise environment.
Changes in the Law on the Court registry, investments in the information system
of court registries of commercial courts, automation of administrative and
accounting judicial operations, criminal and minor offence records, simplify
procedures when establishing companies and provide simpler access to data from
the court registry. The aim of the project is a quality and transparent
monitoring of the situation of companies and other entities.
The e-Bulletin board and Court Networking Project
A project for developing a single intranet
and internet network for judicial bodies which will create prerequisites for
the exchange of documents and information within the judiciary has been
initiated. The Ministry of Justice is working on introducing online bulletin
boards for its courts across the country. The aim of the project is to become
one of the controlling mechanisms in the implementation of the anticorruption
politics, and to reduce the costs of court proceedings. The e-bulletin boards
of Municipal courts announce summons and all rulings (precedents, rulings and
conclusions) for parties which are not present or whose place of residence is
unknown. The e-bulletin boards of Commercial courts announce filing of
bankruptcy and liquidation over companies, as well as rulings of Commercial
courts in relation to the defendants who are not present and whose place of
residence is unknown.
The e-Enforcement
The implementation of electronic services for delivering
enforcement measures for debts for communal services, fees and rent via the
Internet for the City of Zagreb is planned for in 2006. The objectives of this
service are to reduce the number of enforcement cases, shorten the period for
overhead proceedings, simplify and accelerate communication between the
enforcement creditor and the Court, and to expand support for public notary
offices.
By adoption, ratification and publication of the UN Convention against Corruption, provisions of the Convention became part of Croatian legal system. Consequently there is an obligation to develop plans and programs to combat corruption at the national level. As a major part in the fight against corruption and organized crime, a proposed Bill came into power on the first day of 2009, called Criminal Procedure Code (CPC, Official Gazette no. 152/08, 24 December 2008.). The new CPC abolishes the institution of investigating judges and the State Attorneys take the lead role in investigation. The current investigative judges become judges of the investigation, and their number has been reduced. They now monitor human rights and legality of the procedure, regulate the relationship between defendants and prosecutors; decide on the rights and the balance between the parties in the proceedings. They also decide on appeals against detention and approve special measures to collect evidence, such as tracking, wiretapping and searches. In 2009 a special Act – Act on the Office for Combating Corruption and Organised Crime was passed (USKOK, Official Gazette no. 76/09, 1 July 2009.) by which special Courts are organized for cases in which corruption and organised crime took place.
An important role in the judicial reform has the permanent education of judges, judges’ clerks and state attorneys. This obligation for judges is written in the Court Act (2005), article 77. For such purposes Ministry of justice instituted the Law Academy.
Address: Heinzelova 4a - 10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4600 831
Fax: + 385 1 4600 850
E-mail: pravosudna.akademija@pravosudje.hr
The e-Case law Database Project
Providing an important insight to the Case law in Croatia and more transparency in the work of Courts, since December 2003 the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia has been issuing texts of court rulings on the Internet (with the protection of privacy). The e-Case law database portal provides an insight into the case-law published in printed versions of the Supreme court under the heading “Selection of rulings”, but also gives access to complete texts on the rulings of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia since 1993 until today. In addition to the above at this portal you can find a selection of the decisions of other courts in the Republic of Croatia (for now mostly the Municipal and County courts and the High Commercial Court of Croatia).
The Judges Web
The Judges Web is a non-governmental and
unprofitable organization whose aim is to use modern technology in order to
speed up and improve the quality of court operations and to make information
relating to court proceedings accessible to the public. The organization has
launched a project www.sudacka-mreza.hr
as an online service providing access on various legal information to lawyers,
judges, and students at the Faculty of Law, the public, court experts, court
interpreters and foreign investors. The Ministry of Justice took over the
project in May 2005.
By signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union, the Republic of Croatia is committed to harmonize its legislation with the acquis communautaire.
The harmonization process is being implemented through co-operation between state administrative bodies in the phase of the preparation of legislative proposals and the Croatian Parliament in phase of the adoption of laws. In order to participate directly in the process of legislative harmonization, the Parliament established in 2001 a European Integrations Committee tasked to follow up the harmonization process.
Framework instrument, which is implemented synchronization, is National Program of Croatian accession to the European Union. It is a document that Government brings at the end of each year in order to define priorities and dynamics of adjustments for the coming year.
National program is structurally divided into three parts - Chapter 1 Political criteria, Chapter 2 Economic criteria and Chapter 3 Ability to take on the obligations of EU membership which are further divided into 33 units corresponding to the negotiating chapters. The above chapters meet the criteria for EU membership by the National program and also represent an instrument for fulfilling the criteria for membership.
Since 1 December 2001, state administrative bodies are bound to submit to the Parliament a Statement of Compatibility and an accompanying Table of Concordance of Legislative Provisions of the Republic of Croatia with the Relevant EU Provisions together with the draft texts of new Croatian laws. Furthermore, the Croatian Parliament on 9 October 2002 adopted a Conclusion requiring the Government of Croatia to ensure that only draft acts accompanied by a Statement of Compatibility and the Table of Concordance are forwarded to the Parliament.
In December 2001 the Croatian Parliament amended its Standing Orders articles 136 and 161 to set detailed procedures concerning draft legislation to be harmonized with the EU acquis. In the amended article 136, distinction was made between draft legislation that should be harmonized and other “ordinary” draft legislation. Legislative proposals to be harmonized with the EU acquis carry the mark P.Z.E. The amended Article 161 stipulates that legislative proposals being harmonized with the EU legislation of the European Union shall be enacted under summary procedure if so sought by the sponsor, unless the competent working body (which is either the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System or the Legislation Committee) propose that such legislation be discussed and debated in the first reading due to its failure to comply with the Constitution or the legal system. In terms of procedure, the article 161 provision basically represents a regular application of summary procedure for legislation that is being harmonized with EU acquis. Unlike the case of other draft legislation, voting on enabling the use of summary procedure for P.Z.E. legislation is not required.
So far 1468 harmonized regulations (acts, laws, decrees, protocols…) have been adopted, and it is expected to do next 106 till the end of 2009.
Very significant branch of law has been developing in Croatia since year 2000. It is connected to the goal of the Government to transform the Croatian society into an information society, due to the development of Internet, on-line legal transfers and information protection. Since then, the following Acts were adopted:
In Croatia there are four schools of law (faculties of law). Croatian law faculties successfully met the challenges of the Bologna process (Convention on RECOGNITION higher education qualifications in areas EUROPE, Official Gazette, International Agreements, 9/02, 15/02) and extended the four-year undergraduate studies in law, with a five-year integrated graduate and Graduate Studies, which ends in just one - and only academic - degree (master of law).
Law Faculty of the University of Zagreb - It was established in 1776. Annually it enrolls 860 students and it offers post graduate studies in: commercial law, civil law sciences, international public law, administrative law, punitive procedural law, fiscal systems and fiscal politics European law.
The Faculty publishes its own magazine – Zbornik pravnog fakulteta Zagreb since 1948.
The Dean of the Law Faculty of the University of Zagreb, prof.dr.sc. Josip Kregar, invested considerable effort in the modernization of classes within the university. He provided the Faculty with the most acknowledged legal databases on line.
Trg
Marsala Tita 14
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 45 64 309
Fax: +385 1 45 64 030
E-mail: dekanat@pravo.hr
http://www.pravo.hr
Law Faculty of the University of Rijeka - It was established
in 1973, and annually it enrolls 250 students. It offers postgraduate studies
in: law of European integration and international commerce law. The Faculty
publishes its own magazine – Zbornik pravnog fakulteta Sveucilista u
Rijeci.
Hahlic 6
51000 Rijeka
Phone: +385 51 359 500
Fax: +385 51 359 593
E-mail: dekanat@pravri.hr
http://www.pravri.hr
Law Faculty of the University of Split - It was established in
1961. It annually enrolls 270 students and it offers postgraduate studies in:
maritime law and law of the sea. The Faculty publishes its own magazine –
Zbornik pravnog fakulteta u Splitu since 1963.
Domovinskog
rata 8
21 000 Split
Phone: +385 21 393 500
Fax: +385 21 393 597
E-mail: dekanat@pravst.hr
http://www.pravst.hr
Law Faculty of the University of Osijek - It was established in 1975. It annually enrolls 392 students and it offers postgraduate studies in: governing and development of local and regional self-governing. The Faculty publishes its own magazine – Pravni vjesnik since 1985.
Stjepana
Radica 13
31 000 Osijek
Phone: +385 31 224 500
Fax: +385 31 224 540
E-mail: Ljerka.Dumancic@zakon.pravos.hr
http://www.pravos.hr
The magazines these faculties publish often publish articles in foreign languages (English, French, German and Italian) and if the articles are published in Croatian, a summary is provided in one of the before mentioned foreign languages. All of the faculties also publish textbooks.
There are
several publishing houses in Croatia that specialize in publishing legal
literature:
E-mail: webmaster@nn.hr
E-mail: policijskaakademija@fkz.hr
Koranska 16
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4817 125
Fax: +385 1 4558 467
E-mail: darija.dominkovic@zgombic.hr
Smiciklasova 21
10000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4886-444
Fax: +385 1 4819-365
E-mail: ured@ijf.hr
This is
the list of law magazines that are published in Croatia:
Published once a week + according to need
Published 12 times a year
Published 12 times a year.
E-mail: info@novi-informator.net
It comes out Wednesdays and
Saturdays.
http://www.ijf.hr/porezni/index.htm
Published 12 times a year.
Published 10 times a year.
E-mail: pravnici.u.gospodarstvu@hi.t-com.hr
Published 6 times a year.
Published 12 times a year.
Published 10 times a year.
Ilica 51
10 000 Zagreb
Phone: +385 1 4829 841
Fax: +385 1 4829 842
E-mail: radno-pravo@radno-pravo.hr
The number of online law resources in Croatia is not
overwhelming but it keeps increasing.
NARODNE NOVINE - The primary source of online laws is Narodne Novine, which is Croatia’s official gazette. The database provides documents in HTML format and is freely accessible to all.
KOREKTOR - Korektor is a private company that provides laws through email. For a fee they will email you the text of the law.
Intellectio Iuris - The Centre for Law research and documentation, Intellectio Iuris provides the largest database on the territory of Croatia bearing the same name Intellectio Iuris. The database is on the Internet since March 15, 2002 and the database is updated twice a month. This is an ever-growing commercial database covering all branches of law. So we could say that this is a group of databases. The information it provides is taken directly from the official sources and is reflected faithfully and objectively. The database contains all of the relevant Croatian legal publications and is not partial to any one publisher. Centre’s library contains all of the literature, and all of the literature is indexed in the database. At the moment, Intellectio Iuris is the only online database in Croatia that covers all types of law. The database contains two categories of entries. The first category of entries is judicial decisions. The second category is made up of monographic scientific papers. At this moment there are over 65,000 entries. 18,500 of these are indexes of monographic works while 46.500 entries cover court practices and opinions of different Ministries, law book revues etc.
The database contains its own search engine using Boolean logic and allowing search through types of information: domestic court practice, foreign court practice, ministry opinions, expert papers and regulations, crossing it with ten search fields: keywords, branch of law, source of decision (name of the court, decisions’ number), regulation article number, regulation, author, publication, year/number of publication, title of authors paper and additions to paper. These fields could be searched individually or simultaneously. The database contains a built in thesaurus allowing searches in Croatian, Serbian and Slovenian. There are projects in the works that will enable the searches in Macedonian and English language.
Croatia, and all the republics of the former Yugoslavia, have posted their laws on the Internet and have made them available free of charge. This is why the Centre found the entry of laws in the database unnecessary. It is important to mention that every judicial decision and every scientific article points out specifically, in the field “Napomena” (notes), to which regulation or law it refers. In the field title judicial decision and scientific articles even list which article of law they refer to. Using key terms (keywords), which are abundant for each of the entries, the user can immediately unite both categories of entries for full and complete information on the subject.
In the scientific works themselves the practice of the courts is often quoted. The database is organized in the manner that if a paper quotes any judgments of the courts the user can bring it up by entering keyword of the paper in the search field keywords. This is an authentic and highly valuable feature of the database. This is because the judicial decisions offer objective view of the content of a paper, as opposed to excerpts, which may be subjective. In addition this allows for access to the judicial decisions that are not commonly available in official publications of the courts and are only known to the authors of the scientific papers. Often these authors are judges of the highest courts and have passed some of these verdicts themselves.
Through analysis and systematization of Croatian judicial practice incongruities were discovered. Wherever this was spotted it was carefully entered “suprotna odluka” (opposing decision) in the search field “Napomena” (notes) of each of the entries. As all of the entries are unified by the keyword criteria by entering the corresponding keywords both of the decisions will turn out in the search.
Another authentic and highly valuable feature of the database is that it contains opinions of law experts on certain judicial decisions. If an expert, in his discussion of a legal problem, confirms the validity of a particular decision it has no comment in the field entitled “Napomena” (notes). If the expert questions the validity of a decision in an article he is writing it was mark it in the field entitled “Napomena” (notes) by entering the word “upitno” (questionable).
Besides the commercial portion of the database the web site has a non-commercial pages User collaboration - where authors publish their articles and make them available for non-commercial research and educational purposes. Part of the database that holds information on Labour law is open for free search. Community oriented, hot topics are another portion of the site where the Centre for legal research and documentation provides law materials about the current issues of state importance discussed in the media. These materials include expert articles of law professors and academics, different international conventions, laws or court decisions. The materials are in PDF and HTML formats. There is an English version of the web site containing basic information on Centre for law research and documentation Intellectio Iuris and database.
The final goal is to increase the security of legal practice in Croatia, to help Croatian judicial practice and legislation in achieving congruency with European and worldwide standards. Considering that the law systems of all former Yugoslav republics are almost identical, the goal of this database is to provide the information from all of the former republics. The common history of these countries dictates this, and so does the inevitable cooperation between the countries in the future.
Croatia is preparing to join the European Union and as a part of these preparations, the Supreme Court of Croatia developed a project web site where it publishes its own practice. The web site offers a full text search of 113.960 court decision, in HTML format, but only in Croatian. On the same site you can find some expert papers written by the judges of the Supreme Court and links to other Courts in Croatia and ECHR.
Constitutional Court of Croatia
The Constitutional Court has its own database with decisions, rulings and reports (hereinafter: decisions), made since 1 January 2000 and shown on the official web page of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia. They were selected according to several criteria (especially according to number of addressees and according to type of constitutional-court proceedings).
Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia offers free of charge search through decisions of Administrative Court. It collects decisions since 1994 although not all of them are in the database.
HIDRA (Croatian Information Documentation Referral Agency – HIDRA) is a professional service of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, established to perform information, documentation and referral work.
HIDRA promotes the use of public official data, information, and documentation of the Republic of Croatia and assures the use of official documentation of foreign countries, international organizations and institutions, as well as other information, data, and documentation relevant to state bodies and institutions.
HIDRA takes part in developing the information infrastructure of the Government and state bodies of the Republic of Croatia based on new technologies. The aim is to obtain Croatian and foreign information from official sources, assure its prompt processing according to international standards and full access for all users.
Catalogue of official documentation of Republic of Croatia
Regulations of the Republic of Croatia, International contracts of the Republic of Croatia, Other official documentation of the Republic of Croatia: public documents and publications of the Republic of Croatia, documents from sittings of Government of Croatia, documents from sittings of Croatian Parliament, and Virtual collection of online sources of information and services for citizens.
This is a database of all land registry certificates. Reform of judiciary included better organisation and modernisation of Land registry records. This database is a result. It is still not complete but most of the records are entered and it improved transparency of land registry records significantly.
Court register of companies in the Republic of Croatia
This is a database of court register certificates of all companies registered in the Republic of Croatia. Updated daily it contains basic information on company.
European documentation centre of the Institute for International Relations started the EnterEurope project. The goal of this project is to enable easier on-line approach to information on institutions, agencies, bodies, policy and law of the European Union.
Information and Documentation Department
The Information and Documentation Department is a part of the Parliamentary Staff Service, and it is charged with the indexing and archiving of all acts of Parliament.
The Department also provides full reference service, which includes responding to requests for articles and information dealing with complex matters of interest to MPs, and utilizing a variety of sources such as articles and electronic documentation.
Croatian Judicial system today is faced with changes stemming to its very roots. Many laws are being changed, many new laws are being introduced, and about the results of these changes we can only speculate. On one side, Croatia needs to adjust itself to the laws imposed upon them by the EU, their entry into the EU being their primary goal. On the other side they still have to resolve outstanding problems remaining from the SFRJ – 135.000 depositors of Ljubljanska Bank who are not able to get their refund, disputable question of borders between Slovenia and Croatia as well as the question of the nuclear power plant. With all of the impending judicial changes the largest part presenting the already made changes can be seen on the websites and databases which clearly show these changes pertaining to the judicial practice which follows it, and the opinions of legal authorities. Therefore, its evolution, as well as the availability of more data through the internet will ultimately bring about the development of efficiency, expertise, and in conclusion judicial security.