SABOR ENDORSES SEVERAL BILLS, TO RESUME WORK ON MONDAY

ZAGREB, Sept 26 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament on Friday endorsed bills on changes to the laws on distraint, witness protection, and the prevention of drug abuse, as well as a bill on the establishment of a fund for the shares of formerly state-owned companies granted to war veterans following their privatisation. #L# The bill on distraint, which envisages speedier and more efficient distraint proceedings and increases the protection of creditors, was endorsed by all MPs except those from the Croatian Bloc, who requested that it be forwarded into third reading. The final bill on witness protection, which regulates conditions and procedures for the protection of and assistance to court witnesses whose testimony may pose a threat to their life, health, freedom or property, was endorsed by all deputies. The law, the first of its kind in Croatia, should go into force on 1 January next year. The parliament also discussed the final bill on the prevention of drug abuse, which envisages the abolishment of the Institute for the Prevention of Addiction and transfers its duties to the Croatian Agency for Public Health. Deputies of the Croatian Democratic Union opposed the bill, stating that the abolishment of the Institute would not contribute to suppressing drug addiction but rather increase it. Deputies also supported a bill on the establishment of a university in Dubrovnik, as the sixth Croatian university. The parliament ended today's sitting by endorsing the final bill on the establishment of a fund for the shares of formerly state-owned companies allocated to Croatian war veterans. The parliament continues its session on Monday, when its deputies will be addressed by the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox. (hina) rml