The survey was requested by the Commission's Directorate-General for Justice and was carried out in the 28 member countries from September 30 to October 2. The telephone survey covered 26,851 citizens from different social and demographic groups.
The Finns and the Dutch have the highest level of trust in their judiciaries (85% of all those polled), followed by the Austrians (78%), the Luxembourgers and the Germans (77% each), and the Swedes (76%).
In Croatia, 37% of respondents said they tended to trust the national judiciary, 57% that they did not, while 6% said they did not know.
The Lithuanians have the least trust in their judiciary (31%), followed by the Czech and the Slovaks (25% each) and the Slovenians (24%).
On the EU level, 53% of respondents trust the national judiciaries.
Asked if all citizens could go to court to defend their rights, 40% in Croatia said they "strongly agree," while the EU average was 41%; and 37% of Croatians "tend to agree," as against 36% in the EU. Only 10% of Croatians "strongly agree" that the state applies the law, as against 15% in the EU, while 33% "tend to agree," as against 41% in the EU.
Asked if the public authorities acted in a non-arbitrary way, 13% in Croatia said they "strongly agree", as against 11% in the EU, while 32% said they "tend to agree," as against 30% in the EU.
When it comes to independence of judges and courts, 9% of Croatians, and 10% of respondents in the EU, said it was "very good," while 31% of Croatians and 44% of respondents in the EU said it was "fairly good."
Six per cent of Croatians said their justice system was "better" than the justice systems in the EU, as against 25% of the respondents in the EU, while 23% of Croatians and 28% of the respondents in the EU said it was "more or less the same."