SLOVENE STATE PROSECUTION'S DELEGATION ON VISIT TO CROATIA

ZAGREB, Nov 18 (Hina) - A delegation of Slovenia's state prosecution, led by the chief state prosecutor, Zdenka Cerar, on Thursday arrived in Zagreb for an official visit to Croatia's State Attorney's Office. During the talks Croatian hosts and the Slovene delegation discussed characteristics and similarities between these two offices and considered the promotion of cooperation through the exchange of experiences. Croatia's State Attorney, Berislav Zivkovic, said today's visit of Slovene colleagues was continuation of the good cooperation. The Croatian State Attorney's Office employs 340 attorneys and their deputies, along with numerous aides and other experts, Zivkovic said. Notifying the Slovene delegation of the organisation of the Croatian State Attorney's Office, Zivkovic added that the law on the state attorney's office guarantees independent work of judicial bodies. There are 17 counties' state attorney's offices and 59 municipal ones in Croatia. Zivkovic's cited two basic problems of state attorneys - one is a great difference in salaries of judges and these attorney, whereas the other is their insufficient immunity. Cerar said there are 176 lawyers, their 15 deputies and 12 expert aides in the Slovenian state prosecution. Slovene prosecutors have their own association which represents their interests before the government and parliament. Slovene gusts will also visit the Croatian Justice Ministry and the Supreme Court this afternoon. (hina) ms