ZAGREB, March 27 (Hina) - Over the last eight months, almost 400 citizens have filed requests for out-of-court settlements with the state regarding the payment of compensation for damage caused by acts of terrorism, officials at the
Public Attorney's Office have said.
ZAGREB, March 27 (Hina) - Over the last eight months, almost 400
citizens have filed requests for out-of-court settlements with the
state regarding the payment of compensation for damage caused by acts
of terrorism, officials at the Public Attorney's Office have said.#L#
Damages for blown up houses and other facilities are sought by 228
citizens, while 158 citizens seek compensation for non-material damage
caused by death, bodily injuries and damaged health. The requests were
filed after the parliament passed a Law on Responsibility for Damage
Caused by Acts of Terrorism and Public Demonstrations in July last
year.
Since the Public Attorney's Office, which represents the state, is
competent only for settlements regarding non-material damage, requests
for the payment of damages for houses destroyed by explosive were
forwarded to the Ministry of the Sea, Tourism, Transport and
Development, which is in charge of reconstruction.
Citizens who prove that they suffered non-material damage have the
right to claim damages amounting to 60 percent of the established
damage, and they cannot exceed the amount of 350,000 kuna.
Material damage is compensated with the reconstruction of destroyed
and damaged property in line with the Law on Reconstruction.
The Law on Responsibility for Damage Caused by Acts of Terrorism and
Public Demonstrations and two other similar laws were adopted under
the pressure of the Council of Europe and its Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg. The Strasbourg court first waited for the implementation
of the Croatian parliament's conclusion of October 1999 instructing
the government to propose legal regulations to fill in the legal void
which occurred in 1996 when the parliament annulled Article 180 of the
Law on Obligatory Relations under which the state was responsible for
material and non-material damage caused by acts of terrorism. With the
annulment of the article all court proceedings for the compensation of
damage were discontinued.
Since the parliamentary conclusion was not implemented, the European
Court of Human Rights in early 2002 ordered the payment of damages of
10,000 euros to the Kutic family from Bjelovar. Their house, which was
outside the area of conflicts, was blown up in 1992. The European
court took over the case because the Kutics were unable to protect
their rights before domestic courts. The Croatian government then
bound itself to adopt, within six months, regulations ensuring access
to courts for injured parties. The implementation of that obligation
was delayed and the promised regulations were adopted only in July
2003.
(Hina) rml