Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia - coe.int · PDF filea) Territorial reorganization –new map of judicial areas b) Structural reorganization –improving the efficiency

Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia

a) Territorial reorganization – new map of judicial areas

b) Structural reorganization – improving the efficiency of accompanying services in judicial bodies

a) Appeal proceedings reformation – electronic allocation of cases within the courts of second instance for Croatia

b) Informatization – finalizing the informatization in all judicial bodies

Objectives of the judicial system reorganization


• unequal workload

• long duration of courtproceedings

• workload accumulation

• large number of requests for protection of the right to a trial within a reasonable time

• paid annual funds are:

2011. – HRK 25.063.609,642012. – HRK 36.459.794,49 2013. – HRK 27.004.055,48

Shortcomings of the current

network

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1.400

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20.000

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90.000

MC BeliManastir

MCĐakovo

MCNašice

MC OsijekMC

Valpovo

Average inflow 2.484 4.691 2.759 12.468 3.589

Cases per judge 497 938 552 445 598

Average number of cases per judge 530 530 530 530 530

Number of judges 5 5 5 28 6

NUMBER OF CASES PER JUDGE

AVERAGE INFLOW2011/2012/2013

Courts ’ and judges’ caseloads pursuant to the average inflow of specified courts in 2011/2012/2013

MUNICIPAL COURTS (MCs)Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia

• unequal case law

• limited possibility for the specialization of the judges

• insufficient mobility of court staff

• long-lasting procedures of transfer of judges

• insufficient utilization of existing resources

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MCCrikvenica

MCDelnice

MC KrkMC Mali

LošinjMC

OpatijaMC Rab MC Rijeka

Average inflow 2.863 1.544 2.352 1.050 2.721 936 17.055

Cases per judge 358 772 392 1.050 454 468 379

Average number of cases per judge 407 407 407 407 407 407 407

Number of judges 8 2 6 1 6 2 45



Courts ’ and judges’ caseloads pursuant to the average inflowof specified courts in 2011/2012/2013

Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia MUNICIPAL COURTS (MCs)

Shortcomings of the current

network

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MSDCCrikvenica

MSDCDelnice

MSDC KrkMSDC Mali

LošinjMSDC

OpatijaMSDC Rab

MSDCRijeka

Average inflow 1.653 1.969 1.785 697 2.707 513 13.763

Cases per judge 827 985 893 697 677 257 983

Average number of cases per judge 855 855 855 855 855 855 855

Number of judges 2 2 2 1 4 2 14



Courts ’ and judges’ caseloads pursuant to the average inflowof specified courts in 2011/2012/2013

Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia MISDEMEANOR COURTS (MSDCs)

0

500

1.000

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MSAO Split MSAO Sinj MSAO Makarska

Average inflow 8.277 1.217 420

Average per deputy 828 1.217 210

Average 763 763 763

Number of deputy 10 1 2

NUMBER OF CASESPER DEPUTY

AVERAGE INFLOW2011/2012

Civil , Administrative and State Attorneys ’ cases in the workof Civil Administrative Department aggregated data and averages for 2011/2012

Civil Administrative Department

Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia MUNICIPAL STATE ATTORNEYS’ OFFICES (MSAOs)

0

500

1.000

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MSAO Čakovec MSAO Koprivnica MSAO Varaždin

Average inflow 7.315 5.753 6.586

Average per deputy 1.463 822 941

Average 1.034 1.034 1.034

Number of deputies 5 7 7

NUMBER OF CASES PER DEPUTY


Criminal charges and other criminal casesaggregated data and averages for 2011/2012

Criminal department

Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia MUNICIPAL STATE ATTORNEYS’ OFFICES (MSAOs)

Misdemeanor Courts (61)

Municipal courts (67)

Municipal State Attorneys’ Offices (33)

Commercial Courts (7)

Administrative Courts (4)

County Courts (15)

County State Attorneys’ Offices (15)

Penitentiary Institutions (23)

State Judicial Bodies (6)

REO

RG

AN

IZATIO

N

Current network


208 JUDICIAL BODIES, including:

67 MUNICIPAL COURTS (34 of the total have the criminal jurisdiction)

61 MISDEMEANOR COURTS

33 MUNICIPAL STATE ATTORNEYS’ OFFICES(pursuant with the network of Municipal Courts that have the criminal jurisdiction)

Current network


112 JUDICIAL BODIES (before 208), including:

23 MUNICIPAL COURTS (before 67)(21 of the total have the criminal jurisdiction)

21 MISDEMEANOR COURTS (before 61)

21 MUNICIPAL STATE ATTORNEYS’ OFFICES (before 33) (pursuant with the network of Municipal Courts that have the criminal jurisdiction)

Future network



Misdemeanor Courts (21)

Municipal Courts (23)

Municipal State Attorneys’ Offices (21)

Future network

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

• abbreviation of the proceedings duration

• decreasing the number of requests for protection of the right to a trial within a reasonable time

• staff reduction

• higher efficiency in organizing work processes

• more balanced utilization of existing resources

• establishment of common services (IT service, common accounting, delivery ...)

• increase in the number of judges solving cases

• harmonised and unified case law

• balance in workload distribution


• increase in the efficiency of judicial bodies

• better opportunities for specialization of judicial officials

• greater mobility of judicial officials and court staff

• the Ministry of Justice and higher courts have easier work supervision of lower instance courts

• introducing the post - director of judicial administration:

responsible for a large number of judicial bodies

responsible for IT, finance, estates, procurement

will be responsible to the Minister and/or to the President of the Court

following appointment for a special education program will be provided


Impact of reorganization

Shortcomings of the current network

New network after the reorganization


up to 10 up to 20 up to 30 up to 40 up to 40

Municipal Courts 42 15 5 1 4 67

Misdemeanor Courts 55 4 0 1 1 61

Municipal State Attorney's Offices 19 10 2 1 1 33

116 29 7 3 6 161

72,05% 18,01% 4,35% 1,86% 3,73% 100%

Judicial bodies Number of officialsTotal

Total

%

up to 10 up to 20 up to 30 up to 40 up to 40

Municipal Courts 2 4 8 3 6 23

Misdemeanor Courts 8 9 2 2 21

Municipal State Attorney's Offices 6 10 1 2 2 21

16 23 11 5 10 65

24,62% 35,38% 16,92% 7,69% 15,38% 100%

Judicial bodies Number of officialsTotal

Total

%

Municipal CourtsCurrent network


Municipal CourtsFuture network


Misdemeanor CourtsCurrent network



Misdemeanor CourtsFuture network

Municipal State Attorneys’ OfficesCurrent network



Municipal State Attorneys’ OfficesFuture network


MUNICIPAL CIVIL COURT IN ZAGREB

• it covers the area of 720,008 inhabitants

• it holds 21,74% of the total inflow of cases in all MunicipalCourts

• the percentage of judges is 15,95% of the total in allMunicipal Courts

• 17,66% of the total court staff in all Municipal Courts

• due to the workload of judges (651 cases per judge), thereare significant backlogs in their work (93.270 cases, i.e.28,68% of the total pending cases in all Municipal Courts)

• it generates the highest total amount paid each yearbecause of the breach of the right to a trial within areasonable time:

2011. - 5,65% of the total2012. - 6,27% of the total2013. - 22,67% of the total

• it will be split in two Municipal Courts:

1. Municipal Civil Court in Zagreb – North(Permanent attendances in Sv. I. Zelina, Sesvete and Dugo Selo)

(702.523 inhabitants)

2. Municipal Court in Zagreb – South(Permanent attendances in Zaprešić, Samobor, Jastrebarsko,

Ivanić-Grad and Vrbovec)

(405.100 inhabitants)

• individually they will have a smaller inflow of cases,smaller number of court staff and more unified workload

Zagreb areaCurrent situation

Zagreb areaFuture situation

MUNICIPAL CRIMINAL COURT IN ZAGREB

• effective since 1st October 2007• currently covering the area of local competence pursuant to

the Municipal Civil Court ‘s in Zagreb• it has 41 judges and 122 court staff

MUNICIPAL LABOUR COURT IN ZAGREB

• effective since 1st January 2012 and specialized in labour

disputes, this Court was established in accordance withfulfilment of the syndicates demands

• it is currently covering the area of local competence that is

equal to the Municipal Civil Court’s in Zagreb• it has 26 judges and 28 court staff

Currentsituation

Futuresituation

MUNICIPAL CRIMINAL COURT IN ZAGREB

MUNICIPAL LABOUR COURT IN ZAGREB

• after the reorganization of the network, the localcompetence area of these two Courts will be pursuant tothe Municipal Civil Court’s in Zagreb – North

• increased efficiency

• harmonization of case law

• more balanced utilization of existing resources


554

301,5

554

773

448,5

757,5

409 410,5

1.101

334,5

921

556

299

513,5

2.483,5

85,275,4

52,8

128,8

81,5

137,7

62,9

63,2

84,7

55,8

87,7

123,6

59,8

128,4

146,1

94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94 94

6,5 4 10,5 6 5,5 5,5 6,5 6,5

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6 10,5 4,5 5 4

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NUMBER OF CASESPER JUDGE


Average inflow

Cases per judge

Average number of casesper judge

Number of judges in the2nd instance CriminalDepartment

County Courts

Criminal jurisdiction 2nd instance


3.446,5

1.770

2.786

4.5493.635

5.919

2.978,5 3.038,5

9.065

2.198,5

5.954

3.4882.794,5 3.083

24.293

328,2

236,0

232,2

267,6

242,3303,5 313,5

289,4

394,1

274,8

350,2

290,7

465,8

308,3

411,7

334 334 334 334 334 334 334 334 334 334 334 334 334 334 334

10,5 7,5 12 17 15 19,5 9,5 10,5 23 8 17 12 6 10

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26.000

NUMBER OF CASESPER JUDGE


Average inflow

Cases per judge

Average number of casesper judge

Number of judges in the2nd instance CivilDepartment

Civil jurisdiction 2nd instance


County Courts


• 15 County Courts – territorial jurisdiction of the County Courts for the area of Municipal Courts

• almost the same inflow of civil cases (2011 – 79,837; 2012 – 78,169; 2013 – 79,399), however an increase by3,5% of pending cases was noted (1st January 2012 – 59,456; 1st January 2013 – 61,255; 1st January 2014 –63,408)

• decrease in the number of criminal cases (2011 – 12,497; 2012 – 9,478; 2013 – 8,020)

• 242 civil judges, 74 criminal judges

• unequal workload of judges

Currently

Proposition of the reform

• abandonment of the territorial jurisdiction

• Second instance County Courts responsible for deciding on appeals against the civil decisions and criminal

judgments of all Municipal Courts in Croatia

• random algorithmic assignment of cases by ICMS application

Expected impacts

• abbreviating the length of the appeal proceedings

• equal distribution of judges’ workload

• harmonization of case law

Reform of the County Courts’ appeal proceedings


All judicial bodies use centralized applications

MISDEMEANOR COURTS – new JCMS application

• by the end of the 1st quarter of 2015 every Misdemeanor Court is going to be a part of the newJCMS system

MUNICIPAL COURTS – ICMS

• by the end of 2014, every Municipal Court is going to be a part of the ICMS system (MCC andMLC are still remaining)

MUNICIPAL STATE ATTORNEY’S OFFICES – CTS application

• by the end of 2014, every Municipal State Attorney’s Office is going to be a part ofthe CTS system

IT infrastructure – HITRONET network communication

• finalization is expected during 2014

IT infrastructure – client computers

• replacement of approximately 3,300 computers in the system during 2014

IT requirements for reorganization

HR structureof Municipal and Misdemeanor Courtsand Municipal State Attorneys’ Offices


Retirements

Indefinite Definite Total 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Total

Judicial officials 1649 5 5 6 9 11 36

Advisors 388 102 490 0 1 1 0 1 3

Registrars 1136 94 1230 8 13 10 15 24 70

Clerks/typists 1822 241 2063 3 5 3 7 8 26

Land registry/administrative officers 679 143 822 7 5 7 8 7 34

Court bailiffs 95 3 98 0 0 4 1 1 6

Counsellors and associates 39 0 39 0 0 2 0 2 4

Accountants 258 5 263 3 3 4 4 3 17

Court/State Attorney’s administration 132 0 132 1 2 1 3 0 7

Execution of sentences 175 3 178 2 1 3 2 6 14

IT jobs 42 1 43 0 0 0 0 0 0

Trainees 0 63 63 0 0 0 0 0

Archivists 19 3 22 0 0 0 0 0 0

Cleaning personnel 310 9 319 4 2 4 6 10 26

Employees of IIIrd and IVth category 248 12 260 3 5 5 1 1 15

Total officials TOTAL 5343 679 6022 31 37 44 47 63 222

Officials, clerks and employees 7671 36 42 50 56 74 258

Judicial officials Officials and clerks Retirements during

Staff

Phase 1 – 1st quarter 2014

• public debate and referral to the procedure of the Law on Territories and Seats of Courts and the Law onTerritories and Seats of State Attorneys’ Offices

• public debate and referral to the procedure of the Act on the Amendments to the Courts Act (mainsubject – the directors of judicial administration)

• implementation of the provisions on the general jurisdiction of the County Courts for second instancecriminal proceedings

• implementation of territorial reorganization of Municipal Courts and Municipal State Attorneys’ Offices

• implementation of the provisions on the general jurisdiction of the County Courts for second instancecivil proceedings

• implementation of the territorial reorganization of Misdemeanor Courts

Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia Reorganization through phases

Phase 2 – 2nd quarter 2014

Phase 3 – 1st January 2015

Phase 4 – 1st April 2015

Phase 5 – 1st July 2015

Thank you for your attention!


Documents

Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia - coe.int · PDF filea) Territorial reorganization –new map of judicial areas b) Structural reorganization –improving the efficiency