OPPOSITION CRITICISES, RULING PARTIES APPLAUD REFORM OF JUDICIARY

ZAGREB, March 11 (Hina) - Ruling coalition party benches in parliament on Tuesday applauded, while opposition parties vehemently criticised a government document on the reform of the judiciary, saying it was declarative and just another document which the government is incapable of implementing and which will not improve the situation in the judiciary. #L# The incumbent government had done nothing in the past three years, the number of unsolved cases is accumulating and there are now two million of them, claims the opposition. The government will complete its term and the reform of the judiciary will remain just another of its unfulfilled promises, the Croatian Bloc's (HB) Ivic Pasalic said, claiming that the document was "a good red herring" closely tied with coming elections. Pasalic's statement about the appointment of ruling parties' personnel in the judiciary caused a storm of reactions by coalition partners who replied in the same manner, accusing him of a so-called Pasalic commission having, during the reign of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), appointed party staff in the judiciary. Four hundred judges were laid off and a true natural disaster reigned over the judiciary, replied Ivan Ninic of the Social Democrats (SDP), while Marin Jurjevic, of the same party, said that a hundred people had been removed from the judiciary in Split alone. The opposition criticised the government for not having realised its announcement about a permanent professional training of judges, their overtime, and that little was done about promises that the judiciary would be independent of politics. Ruling coalition party benches commended the government's analysis of the situation in the justice system, stating that it was a good starting point for a radical reform of the judiciary and a better legal protection of citizens. (hina) lml sb