The objective of the EUR 850,000 project, the implementation of which has taken 19 months, is to strengthen the capacity of the Croatian administrative judiciary to provide quick and efficient judicial relief in full compliance with rule-of-law-standards.
A team of German and Austrian experts from various backgrounds (judiciary, public administration) with the support of judges and court advisors from the Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia drafted a new Law on Administrative Court Procedure in order to replace the current Law on Administrative Disputes which came into force in 1977.
Among other measures, the draft proposes to install a two instance administrative jurisdiction and to introduce mandatory oral hearings in proceedings before administrative courts.
The implementation of the project should facilitate Croatia's efforts to meet benchmarks for its entry into the EU from the field of the Policy Chapter on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights.
Addressing the closing ceremony, the EC Delegation's head, Vincent Degert said Croatia had faced the problem of inefficient implementation of the existing legislation regarding administrative law which was why backlog cases had been piling up before the Administrative Court.
Currently, there are 36,800 cases which means that each of the 32 Administrative Court judges should tackle some 1,100 cases, which is not realistic, Degert said.
"The reform is a must, as a great number of cases, that is 40 percent, lodged with the Administrative Court refers to the everyday problems of citizens, such as social and health insurance of pensions," the EC diplomat said.