Digitalisation of Court Business Register: 86% of applications submitted electronically

A significant step forward in digitalising the Croatian judiciary was the introduction of electronic applications for registration in the Court Business Register at commercial courts in Croatia

‘At present, as many as 86% of all applications received for entry in the Court Business Register at commercial courts were submitted electronically, while the share of applications submitted in paper form only fell to only 14%’, said Minister of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation Damir Habijan, adding that it enabled the integration of the Court Business Register with the eNotary system of the Croatian Chamber of Notaries. With this, in addition to the existing channels of HITRO.HR, START system for the establishment of companies and the eServices system on the Court Business Register website for registering changes which do not require a notary public, a complete and functional digital communication system has been established.

The eNotary system relies on the exclusive use of electronic documents, which means that paper files are no longer created in courts, with electronic files introduced instead.

This procedure takes place with a notary public by converting the application and enclosures into electronic documents before their submission to the court, submitting them through the eNotary system to the Court Business Register, after which the court examines the submitted documents without the need to create a paper file and, if the requirements for registration are met, a decision is drawn up which is submitted to the notary public via the eNotary system. 
 
For citizens and entrepreneurs, this brings a direct benefit, as for electronically submitted applications half of the prescribed court fee is payable, and it is no longer necessary for the parties to come to the court in person for the purpose of submitting documents or taking over decisions.

In addition to savings, digitalisation also ensures greater availability of data by creating a more complete digital collection of documents.

All publicly available electronic documents can be downloaded free of charge from the Court Business Register website from anywhere in the world, which significantly facilitates the verification of data by businesses and institutions. 

The statistics for March 2026 best illustrate the scale of this transformation. Compared to March 2025, when 898 applications were submitted electronically, in March this year this number rose to a total of 2,123 electronic applications, an increase by over 50% in just one year. Analysis by sources shows that most applications for registration were submitted via the eNotary system - 1,510 applications. Another novelty is that the function of the HITRO.HR system, which has been used since 2008 to submit applications for registration of establishment electronically, is being taken over by the eNotary system.

"These data clearly show that digital channels have become the primary way of communicating with the Court Business Register and that they have been recognised by entrepreneurs as a useful and efficient way to file applications for registration with a court", stressed Minister Habijan. 

The Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation has continuously been investing in modernising the system to enable the smooth operation of courts.

In order to ensure the quality of services and to address current challenges in practice, a Working Group on the Digitalisation of the Court Business Register has been operational within the Ministry since mid-2025.

In the forthcoming period, it is planned to extend the possibility of electronic filing to applications for registration of branches and status changes, which will completely round off digital processes related to the Court Business Register in Croatia.

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