Final conference of NFM Justice and Home Affairs Programme
On 7 June 2024, the final conference of the Justice and Home Affairs Programme of Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 was held at the Esplanade Zagreb Hotel.
Based on the previously signed Memorandum of Understanding on the Implementation of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 between the Kingdom of Norway and the Republic of Croatia, a Programme Agreement regulating the implementation of the Justice and Home Affairs Programme was signed on 4 June 2019 between the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia as the National Focal Point.Project promoters (competent organisational units of the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation) and project partners (Norwegian Correctional Service, Norwegian Court Administration, State Judicial Council, Judicial Academy) have successfully implemented the following projects:
1. Reconstruction of the Municipal Court building in Split and promotion of e-services
Component 1
The project served to fully reconstruct the new building of the Municipal Court in Split so that it meets all modern standards of energy efficiency, fire protection, occupational safety, security of the building, employees and parties, which reduced the previous costs of operating in several locations and further increased the quality of working conditions.
Component 2
After analyses and recommendations for improving the existing and introducing new judicial e-services, a promotional campaign was conducted on national and local TV and radio stations, in print media, on web portals and in social media to encourage wider use of available e-services.
Component 3
Three judges were seconded to the European Court of Human Rights for a period of 12 months as a contribution to increasing the efficiency of the judicial system by improving the competences of judges. In addition to professional supervision and mentoring, they gained valuable experience in dealing with cases within the jurisdiction of the ECtHR.
2. Strengthening human rights protection and public safety by improving the capacities of the Croatian probation service
The most important activities of the project:
The most important activities of the project:
- establishment of the Electronic Monitoring Centre in the Ministry and procurement of 200 bracelets for tracking the defendants/convicts prohibited from leaving home,
- improvement of material and technical working conditions through investments in the infrastructure and equipment of probation offices and the procurement of four new official vehicles for the probation system,
- implementation of Roma Mentors pilot project aimed at the use a contact person (of Romani origin) by various services and institutions to facilitate communication with members of the Roma community,
- scientific validation of the Sex Offender Assessment System developed for the probation service,
- improved cooperation between employees of the prison and probation systems as well as various cooperation and exchange activities at the bilateral level between representatives of Norwegian and Croatian probation services.
3. Revising the methodology of evaluation of judges’ performance
The activities of this project included a comparative analysis of the systems for evaluating the performance of judges in Austria, the Netherlands and Portugal and an analysis of the existing system by Norwegian and Croatian experts, based on which recommendations were made to amend the Methodology for evaluating judges’ performance. All recommendations made by experts have been adopted.
4. Reinforcing the system of court-annexed mediation
A comparative analysis of the use of mediation in relation to other countries (Portugal, Norway, the Netherlands and Ireland) was conducted, as well as an analysis of the mediation system by branches of law by external experts from the Republic of Croatia. In addition, a sociological and legal analysis of the reasons for the insufficient use of mediation in courts was conducted.
A media campaign was conducted to promote mediation as an alternative dispute resolution method, which included TV, radio and web advertisements.
A media campaign was conducted to promote mediation as an alternative dispute resolution method, which included TV, radio and web advertisements.
Additionally, activities aimed at strengthening bilateral cooperation have been funded from the Fund for Bilateral Relations under the Agreement on the Fund for Bilateral Relations, concluded on 28 March 2019 between the National Focal Point and the Financial Mechanism Committee and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Norway. The allocation from the Fund has been increased to EUR 585,000 and two bilateral projects are currently underway: “Strengthening the capacity and visibility of the prison system and probation” and “Mediation and free legal aid: opportunities for synergy”.
The overall amount allocated for the Programme was EUR 17,105,882, of which the grant amounted to EUR 14,540,000, and national co-financing to EUR 2,565,882.
The guests at the conference were addressed by Damir Habijan, Minister of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation, Spomenka Đurić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds, Helge Klouman Marstrander, First Secretary and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Norway to Croatia and Nieke Van de Berg, representative from the Norwegian Courts Administration (Donor Programme Partner).
Presentations on the results of the Programme and ongoing bilateral activities were delivered by representatives of the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation Ivan Lakoš from the Independent Sector for Strategic Development and Projects, Goran Brkić and Vesna Zelić Ferenčić from the Probation Sector and Arijana Kozlevčar from the Civil and Commercial Law Sector.
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