ZAGREB, Dec 5 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament began Thursday's sitting with a debate on a government-sponsored bill of amendments to the Law on Civil Procedure which is aimed at making civil procedure faster and more
efficient.
ZAGREB, Dec 5 (Hina) - The Croatian parliament began Thursday's
sitting with a debate on a government-sponsored bill of amendments
to the Law on Civil Procedure which is aimed at making civil
procedure faster and more efficient. #L#
The amendments are within the framework of the reform of the
judiciary and the harmonisation of the domestic justice system with
international legal standards, and are aimed at improving civil
procedure, Justice Minister Ingrid Anticevic-Marinovic said.
She stated the current civil procedure was burdened with an out-of-
date structure which precluded an effective protection of social
and individual interests in civil lawsuits.
The amendments enable the judge to easily recognise and penalise
abuse of procedure and change the judge's role in civil procedure,
said the minister, explaining that in the future the judge would
rule only based on the evidence and facts produced by the parties in
the proceedings and would not be in charge of collecting evidence
himself.
The amendments propose excluding the jury from first instance
proceedings, extending the judge's authority in penalising parties
which abuse procedural law, and equating the rights of the parties
in the proceedings in which the state is no longer privileged.
The amendments also prohibit the introduction of new evidence
during appeals. Anticevic-Marinovic said such evidence had often
served only to delay proceedings.
Changes refer also to the delivery of court letters. Private
companies making postal deliveries would be enabled to do this job
for the court.
(hina) ha