Croatian Parliament: New offence against life, limb and property through AI system to enter Criminal Code

Minister Habijan presented to the Parliament a package of draft legislative amendments - to the Criminal Code, the Criminal Procedure Act and the Act on the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime - in First Reading

At the 7th session of the Croatian Parliament, the Minister of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation presented the Proposal of the Act on Amendments to the Criminal Code, the Proposal of the Act on Amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act and the Proposal of the Act on Amendments to the Act on the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime.
 
Artificial intelligence enters the Criminal Code

At the beginning of the presentation, Minister Habijan briefly outlined the main components of the amendments to the Criminal Code. The first amendment concerns the change in Article 339 - Bribery of Members. It is an existing criminal offence in the Criminal Code, but its description now being  expanded and it is proposed that all actions of active and passive bribery - giving and receiving bribe - of a Member include all actions of a Member within and outside the legislative procedure as well as those preceding the vote or carried out during the vote itself.

It is also proposed to introduce a criterion for registration of a legal person, where the principle of active personality would be applied, which means that criminal offences committed by legal persons outside the territory of the Republic of Croatia would also be covered.

Criminal authority is to be established for companies with a registered office outside Croatia committing offences relating to their branches in Croatia.

‘With regard to our commitments as a member state of the European Union, in view of a new directive which we have to transpose by July next year, on combating and preventing trafficking in human beings, the existing criminal offence from Article 106 of the Criminal Code - new qualified forms of the offence are proposed, which include its commission with the use of serious violence, the consequence of a grave bodily injury to the victim, the dissemination of images, videos or similar material of a sexual nature involving the use of information and communication technologies’, said Minister Habijan.

The criminal justice policy is also being tightened in relation to causing death by negligence.

Furthermore, Minister Habijan explained that, due to the rapid development of technology, it was also necessary to regulate the field of AI systems, which is why it is proposed to introduce a new criminal offence of causing danger to life, limb and property through an AI system into the Criminal Code.

"Looking at the description of the offence, it is quite broad and I am sure that we will also have new offences in this area and very likely new amendments to the Criminal Code’, stressed Minister Habijan, recalling that a separate Artificial Intelligence Act must be adopted by next year.

‘We have taken the definition of an AI system from the AI Act, so it is identical to the way it is regulated by European Union legislation’, he added.
 
The concept of the indictment panel to be changed to speed up proceedings

The main motive for amendments to the Criminal Procedure Act was the awareness that certain criminal proceedings, especially in complex criminal cases, last a long time, and the most common cause of this are unjustified delays in court proceedings.

‘We have recognised the part of the procedure relating to the indictment panel as a neuralgic point’, highlighted Minister Habijan, mentioning an independent analysis conducted for the Ministry by the Faculty of Law in Zagreb.
The analysis of the Faculty of Law has indicated three points that lead to delays in the procedure. One concerns the successive agreements of the indictment chamber, the other concerns big delays due to appeals against decisions on the (non-)exclusion of unlawfully obtained evidence, and the third point concerns the issues with service itself.

In this sense, the biggest change concerns a change in the concept of the indictment panel. It is proposed that the indictment panel session be held without the participation of the parties for all offences.

‘Of course, this does not mean that the indictment panel session will be secret, it will remain non-public as it has been so far’, Minister Habijan said, referring to two exceptions when the parties will be present at the indictment panel session.  One exception refers to situations relating to the delivery of a judgment based on a plea agreement and the other refers to deciding on the legality of evidence.

As regards the successive agreements of the indictment panel, it is abolished on the ground that it has been established that this possibility has often been abused under the existing Code of Criminal Procedure.

Furthermore, the proposed amendments eliminate the possibility of successive agreements, as it has been established that this possibility has often been abused under the existing Criminal Procedure Act, which has also led to delays in the criminal proceedings. According to the proposed solution, the parties to whom the statement requesting a judgment based on a plea agreement relates will be summoned to the session, while the confirmation of the indictment in relation to any other accused persons will be decided in camera, without the participation of the parties.

One of the reasons for delays in the proceedings at the indictment panel stage is waiting for a decision of the higher court on the appeal against the decision on (non-)exclusion of illegally obtained evidence, since parties have the right to lodge a separate appeal against any court decisions on the legality of evidence. This special appeal against the decision on (non-)exclusion of illegally obtained evidence will now only be allowed as an exception, based on a discretionary decision of the court. 

‘The grounds of appeal will also be amended to the effect that if a judgment is based on illegal evidence evidence as referred to in Article 10, it becomes a ground of appeal’, explained Minister Habijan.

“We are changing another deficiency observed in practice, concerning the precautionary measures, that is, the replacement of a violated precautionary measure by pre-trial detention. Where the court is not working due to non-working days or public holidays, the decision to replace the precautionary measure with pre-trial detention will be taken by the investigating judge instead of the competent judicial authority’, he added.

Minister Habijan recalled that the Hann-Invest Judgment last July has led to amendments to the Courts Act and the Civil Procedure Act, and consequently the Criminal Procedure Act was amended, establishing a mechanism for extended judicial panels, in relation to the request for the protection of legality and the extraordinary review of a final judgment.

This will satisfy the main complaint relating to the issue of internal judicial independence, but also the right to regulate the procedure in a transparent manner.
 
New reorganisation relieves the County Court in Zagreb 

At the end of his presentation in Parliament, Minister Habijan touched upon the draft Act on Amendments to the Act on the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK).  

To reduce the burden on the County Court in Zagreb,  an Uskok department is to be established at the County Court in Varaždin, which will also take over the jurisdiction of the County Court in Bjelovar, while the County Court in Rijeka will become competent for the current jurisdiction of the County Court in Karlovac.

Furthermore, the duty of the panel chair to care for and facilitate the concentration of the proceedings is being introduced into the law.

Another competence of USKOK is being added as regards offences in terrorism cases, terrorist financing and terrorist association.

‘With regard to the appointment of the Director of USKOK, the aim is to widen the pool of candidates and provide for a limitation that no one may be appointed to this post for more than two consecutive terms’, concluded Minister Habijan.

PHOTO: Hina 

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