ZAGREB, Oct 17 (Hina) - Supreme Court President Ivica Crnic has stated that court inefficiency is not the only reason for procrastinated court proceedings, adding that lack of judges and funds for the development of the judiciary is
another reason.
ZAGREB, Oct 17 (Hina) - Supreme Court President Ivica Crnic has
stated that court inefficiency is not the only reason for
procrastinated court proceedings, adding that lack of judges and
funds for the development of the judiciary is another reason. #L#
Crnic was speaking at a seminar entitled "Implementation of the
European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Basic
Freedoms - Article 6, the Right to Fair Trial", organised by the
Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Zagreb on
Thursday.
Over the past several years judges have been dealing with an
increasing backlog of cases but their results seem inadequate due
to an increased number of new cases, which is not the courts' fault,
Crnic said.
Speaking about the insufficient number of judges and other court
personnel, Crnic said the current number of court employees was
enough only to cover the new cases, which was why "backlogs have
been accumulating year by year and the situation is becoming
worse".
Crnic believes that the inefficiency of the judiciary is the
consequence of the financial dependence of the judiciary in
relation to the legislative and executive authorities, which
affect working conditions in the judiciary through the budget.
Stating that judges would not be able to make changes guaranteeing
the solution of a number of cases over a short period of time, Crnic
said the funds necessary for the development of the judiciary
should be secured already during the revision of this year's budget
and in next year's budget.
Apart from additional funds, Crnic believes another way of
overcoming the current situation is the appointment of "licensed
judges" for a limited period of time, as well as the encouraging of
out-of-court settlements and arbitration.
(hina) rml sb