SABOR DISCUSSES CHANGES TO LAW ON CRIMINAL PROCEDURE

ZAGREB, April 11 (Hina) - The proposed changes to the Law on Criminal Procedure will make the judiciary more efficient in criminal proceedings and secure the stability of and trust in the judiciary, Justice Minister Ingrid Anticevic Marinovic said in parliament, presenting a bill on changes to the Law on Criminal Procedure. #L# "Slow and inefficient criminal procedure prevents the implementation of criminal legislation, and overdue sentences are considered unjust," the minister said. The stalling of criminal procedure has been ignored for a long time, she said. This has caused great damage to state and individual interests and encouraged crime, making the citizens believe that the state is incapable of dealing with crime, she added. The proposed changes define types of violation of process rights and their prevention, simultaneously protecting the legitimate interests of parties in a dispute. "The judge must control the situation in the courtroom and not allow other participants to determine the course of proceedings," she said. The changes to the Law, which was adopted in 1998, enable the defendant to face the court and receive a sentence as soon as possible, without the unnecessary stalling of the procedure. The judge is enabled to permanently strip the party abusing a procedural right of that right. The law extends the powers of the judge in trials for criminal acts which are punished with a prison sentence of up to five years and envisages the possibility of processing socially less dangerous criminal acts in summary proceedings without investigation. The law also envisages "a pure functional cooperation" between the police and the State Prosecutor in discovering criminal acts and perpetrators, and in initiating criminal proceedings, Anticevic Marinovic said. (hina) sb rml