SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE TAKES OATH OF OFFICE

ZAGREB, May 14 (Hina) - With their ruling, courts must clearly indicate that every person must fulfil their duties and that they will not tolerate any form of violence. Those who do not abide by the law will be appropriately sanctioned, Ivica Crnic said on Monday, during swearing in to his new duty as chief justice of the Croatian Supreme Court. Taking the oath before President Stipe Mesic, Crnic stressed when passing rulings judges must start from the principle of innocence, that is, presume everybody innocent until proven guilty. Judges must judge by the Constitution and laws, but I also call on judges to sympathise, that is, to apply laws with understanding for people and their difficulties, Crnic said. He recalled the biggest problem in the court system in Croatia were lengthy proceedings and a great number of unsolved cases. Such circumstances cannot change over night, but a solution to this is in the dedicated, expert and responsible work of judges, he said. Extending his congratulations, President Mesic stressed the Supreme Court had an important role in the establishment of the rule of law. Most part of the problems in which the Croatian society finds itself today are the result of the fact that the law-based state did not function the way it should have, he asserted. (hina) lml