UPPER HOUSE ENDORSES BILL ON VALIDITY OF OCCUPIED-AREA ISSUED DOCUMENT

DOCUMENT $ S ZAGREB, Sept 24 (Hina) - The Croatian Parliament House of Counties on Wednesday endorsed the final Bill on the establishment of the legal validity of documents issued to individuals by local authorities in the occupied areas of Croatia. According to the bill, certain documents (decisions, certificates, rulings) issued by various bodies in power in the occupied areas, would be recognised as valid if they were in line with the Croatian Constitution, Constitutional Law on the rights of minorities and other Croatian laws, head of the Croatian government Legislation Office, Marijan Prus, said on Wednesday. Any interested person may request of a court or authorised Croatian administrative body to ascertain the compliance of such a document or its opposition to the Constitution or Croatian laws. Representatives of the government had cooperated with UNTAES in the preparation of this law. He reiterated that this bill pertained to documents issued in administrative and court proceedings, but not to by-laws passed by bodies in authority in the occupied areas. Such by-laws have been pronounced invalid by the Constitutional Court in 1992. In response to many comments and questions of MPs, Prus said that the mere passing of this law would not render the documents legally valid. They would become so only when they receive the validity clause from the authorised body. The Upper House endorsed bills, without discussion, on the ratification of the European Charter on regional or minority languages, on the ratification of a Consular Convention between Croatia and Yugoslavia, and a Bill on the official usage of language and alphabet of ethnic and national communities and minorities. (hina) lm jn 241738 MET sep 97