CRNIC: JUDGES ARE MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR LONG-LASTING PROCEDURES

ZAGREB, March 13 (Hina) - Long-lasting court procedures and a large number of backlog cases are the main problems of the Croatian judiciary. The most responsible are judges, attorneys and then parties in a procedure, said Ivica Crnic, Supreme Court president, at a seminar on civil lawsuits on Wednesday. There were about 1.1 million backlog cases at the end of 2000, said Crnic. Crnic said the reasons for long-lasting procedures are insufficient preparation of judges and parties for trials, actions of poor quality, a lack of evidence and a lack of 260 judges. Crnic said courts are now working with 16 percent less judges than stipulated by the Justice Ministry's measures. All parties are responsible, especially judges who are "the masters of the proceedings," said Crnic and added it was impermissible that judges hold four separate hearings for four witnesses. Speaking about amendments to a law on civil lawsuit, Crnic said envisaged are numerous amendments which should help the efficiency of the judiciary. He said he believes amendments will not be enough unless parties in the proceedings start acting responsibly. (hina) np sb