"Currently there are over 95,000 cases that have been waiting for their outcome before civil and commercial courts for over three years, and there are also over 35,000 cases in the process lasting more than 10 years, and the draft amendments are designed to shorten their duration," Justice Minister Orsat Miljenic said at the government meeting.
According to the minister, one of the most important effects will be the concentration of litigation, which requires plaintiffs to provide the court with all facts and evidence immediately. The period for responding to the lawsuit will be made longer but respondents are also expected to present all facts and evidence to challenge the allegations. After that a preparatory hearing will be convened at which parties will submit the entire body of evidence.
"Litigants must be responsible. If they sue somebody, they must present reasons why they do it and submit evidence, and those who contest the suit must do the same," Miljenic said.
In order to make the concentration of litigation more efficient, a preparatory hearing will be introduced for all kinds of proceedings. The litigation procedure will thus consist of preliminary procedure (pre-litigation stage), lawsuit, the response of the defendants, preparatory hearing at which the date for the main hearing will be scheduled, main hearing, and the hearing at which a verdict will be rendered.
The deadline for the announcement of judgement is 45 days running from the closing hearing. At the verdict-delivering hearing the parties are to be provided with verdicts in writing, too, so that a deadline for appeal can start running.
The new legislation will cancel a possibility of revocation of first-instance rulings more than once. It will also introduce other deadlines for procedures within the entire process of litigation.
Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic said that this amended legislation was one of the ten remaining tasks highlighted in the European Commission's monitoring report on Croatia which Zagreb should complete in the run-up to its entry into the European Union, set for 1 July 2013.