NEW JUSTICE MINISTER INHERITS SOLID JUDICIAL

UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 02 ZAGREB 000183 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR DICARLO; EUR/SCE ENGLISH, BELL; S/WCI-HODGKINSON; L/EUR JOHNSON; INR MORIN DEPT PLEASE PASS TO NSC BRAUN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KCRM KAWC PGOV PREL HR SUBJECT: NEW JUSTICE MINISTER INHERITS SOLID JUDICIAL REFORM PROGRAM *********************** * Missing Section 001 * *********************** ZAGREB 00000183 002 OF 002 courts to those with lighter caseloads has for the first time since Croatian independence reversed the trend of an ever-increasing case backlog. With well over a million pending cases, the process of eliminating the backlog is a long term one. ¶7. (U) Skare Ozbolt also spearheaded an initiative to rationalize the number of Croatian courts and had plans this year to merge many municipal courts, saving on court administration and infrastructure costs. The GoC also put more than USD 300 million in 2005 into modernizing court facilities to bring the remaining courts up to European standards. FINALLY SOME JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE -------------- ¶8. (U) Skare Ozbolt was the first MoJ to get serious about judicial discipline. Her new judicial inspectors have already hit a number of courts and exposed irregularities leading to the dismissal of two municipal court presidents. The Minister's powers in this area, however, are limited to naming and removing court presidents. The next step -- actually removing a judge from office -- can only be taken by the judiciary itself, which has been slow to act against its own. LAND REGISTRY: CRITICAL TO FOREIGN INVESTMENT -------------- ¶9. (U) When Skare Ozbolt took office, Croatia's land registry was plagued with backlogged cases and multiple (and sometimes contradictory) records. After the introduction of licensed land registry clerks who took much of this workload off the desks of municipal judges, conflicts are being resolved and the backlog is set to be eliminated by the end of this year. Much of the data has been digitized and is now available on-line, the first E-Government service in Croatia. Technical and legal preparations are now complete for the creation of a single, nationwide land registry. A STRENGTHENED JUDICIAL ACADEMY FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION -------------- -------------- ¶10. (U) The MoJ established a Judicial Academy in 2004 to provide for the ongoing professional education of judges and prosecutors. In addition to the headquarters in Zagreb, the Academy has two regional training centers, with three more scheduled to open this year. With USG and EU assistance, the Academy has offered training in such topics as witness protection, war crimes evidence, verdict writing, intellectual property, labor law, family law, and European Union law, among others. Attendance at Judicial Academy training was recently made a pre-condition for career advancement, ensuring fully trained judges and continuity of jurisprudence across Croatia. FRANK