CROATIA TO MARK 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF LANGUAGE DECLARATION

ZAGREB, Feb 26 (Hina) - The Croatian Parliament's House of Representatives on Wednesday supported a proposal by the Education, Science and Culture Committee for marking the 30th anniversary of the Declaration on the Name and Status of the Standard Croatian Language. The Declaration was published in the Zagreb culture weekly "Telegram" on 17 March 1967 under the auspices of the Matica Hrvatska publishing and cultural society and at the initiative of a group of Croatian writers. Although it was aimed at the constitutional redefinition of the Croatian language, it was also a sign of public protest against the forcible unification of the Croatian and Serb languages to the detriment of the former. A vast majority of the Croatian people saw the Declaration as an effort to preserve national consciousness, and it marked the beginning of the awakening of Croatian national and democratic forces. "The Declaration was the first act in socialist Yugoslavia when the Croatian people said what it thought of Belgrade's unitarianist theses. It homogenized the Croatian people like nothing before that," said Dubravko Jelcic, a member of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and of the Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences. Jelcic noted that there were many reasons why "that great event" should be marked by declaring a memorial week, "Croatian Language Days", from 11 to 17 March. During question time, in response to a question by Milan Djukic of the Serbian People's Party, Deputy Prime Minister Ljerka Mintas-Hodak said that Croatia guaranteed all rights to all of its citizens, including those of Serb nationality. The Croatian government provided temporary accommodation for Serbs who had decided to return to Croatia, Mintas-Hodak said, adding that she had visited Donji Lapac, Djukic's home town 150 km south of Zagreb, where she saw that the Serbs who had returned were accommodated in their homes and that they had been given cattle. "The government has responded to all your remarks on the situation on the ground, most of which were unfounded," she told Djukic. In the afternoon, the lower house concluded a discussion on draft amendments to the law regulating the jurisdiction of courts and their seats. Justice Minister Miroslav Separovic said that the amendments were aimed at improving the situation in the judicial system. The draft amendments envisage the establishment of five new commercial courts - in Sisak, Pazin, Zadar, Sibenik and Dubrovnik - and five new municipal courts - in Cabar, Ilok, Novalja, Prelog, Solin, Tisno and Zapresic. They also provide for the widening of the jurisdiction of ten municipal courts and the abolishment of military courts. The amendments were backed by the working bodies of the House. However, many deputies emphasized during the discussion that the amendments should have been preceded by a thorough analysis of the situation in the judiciary and the justice system. (hina) vm mm 261922 MET feb 97