STRASBOURG SEMINAR ON LEGAL PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUALS IN DANUBE REGION BEGINS

REGION BEGINS ( Editorial: --> 0511 ) STRASBOURG, Nov 13 (Hina) - The reintegration of the Croatian Danube river area into the Croatian judicial system had been successfully completed by the creation of all prerequisites for the functioning of the rule of law in that part of Croatia as well, Croatian Justice Minister Miroslav Separovic said in Strasbourg on Thursday. Separovic is taking part in a three-day seminar on the legal protection of individuals, organised by the U.N. Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES), the Council of Europe and the Venetian Commission. Participants in the seminar - U.N. Transitional Administrator for eastern Slavonia, William Walker, international representatives and the Danube area judicial bodies - will discuss the reintegration of the Danube area into the Croatian judicial system with special attention to be paid to providing full legal protection for all citizens of Croatia. Minister Separovic said that the legal protection of all Croatian citizens would remain a priority of the Croatian state policy after the completion of the judicial reintegration. U.N. Transitional Administrator William Walker said he was expecting from the Strasbourg seminar to offer proposals for concrete measures on the ground so that the process of reintegration could be completed successfully. Speaking of the reintegration of the Croatian Danube region Separovic said that Croatian laws have been applied in the region since 1 June 1997 and that Croatian judicial bodies began to operate successfully in the region on 30 September, following the signing of a declaration on conditions for the reintegration of judiciary. The Croatian state judicial chamber has appointed judges in the Danube region, and 40 percent of them are of the Serb origin. The amnesty law has been applied to 12,000 people in the Danube region, and the law adjustment act is to be applied so that additional legal protection for the local population could be secured. Separovic pointed to the importance of Croatia's adoption of the European Charter on Human Rights and other international charters through which Croatia allowed additional control by the European Court for Human Rights. Walker reiterated the excellent cooperation between the Croatian justice ministry and UNTAES, adding that key agreements on the reintegration of the Danube area into the Croatian judicial system had been signed during that cooperation. He called for the fulfillment of Croatia's wish to be fully included into European integration processes and European Union. An Assistant to Croatian Justice Minister, Radovan Majski, who is also a representative of the Serb minority, spoke about poor economic conditions for the work of the court in Vukovar, an eastern Croatian town under the UN Transitional Administration. He complained that Croatia did not recognise bar examination that candidates for judges in the Danube area had passed in Belgrade after 1991. Responding to those remarks, Separovic said that Croatian authorities would continue working on improvement of working conditions of the courts in eastern Slavonia. Regarding the bar examinations Separovic replied that they could be acknowledged through a bilateral agreement which Croatia and a country where they were passed should conclude, but such agreement between Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia did not exist. He added that only three cases of people who passed the bar examination in Yugoslavia and who would like to work in the Croatian Danube region had been recorded. (hina) jn mš 131829 MET nov 97