State Secretary Juro Martinović participated in the final conference of the project “Digital by default: Optimisation of efficiency and quality of judicial services and transparency of judicial decisions”, held at the Sheraton Hotel in Zagreb on 19 March.
This project follows on the previous project “Support to the implementation of e-Communication in the Croatian judiciary”.
The project aimed to provide more efficient and transparent services to the end-users of the justice by introducing the new wave of IT tools optimising the way judicial decisions are anonymised and published.
The closing conference included a presentation of the main activities, achievements and sustainable impact as well as the results of the project. Conference participants discussed the lessons learned and future ideas for further digitalisation of the Croatian judiciary.
“In recent years, Croatia has made numerous advances in the area of digitalisation of the judiciary and has invested significant funds. We have upgraded the e-Filing system, introduced the systems of e-Communication and e-Enforcement, and we have upgraded existing and developed new digital tools", said State Secretary Juro Martinović, adding that the publication of all judgements is an extremely important aspect in the judicial system.
The online publication of judgements, in accordance with national law and EU standards, and in line with international human rights standards, has increased the level of transparency and consistency of judgements in Croatia and, ultimately, has increased public trust in the judiciary.
“Digital tools should serve to contribute to the independence of the judiciary and upholding of the rule of law. They are here to facilitate access to justice for every citizen, and to enable faster and better quality decision-making based on law by judicial officials", concluded State Secretary Martinović.
The project was co-financed by the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) and the Council of Europe, and was implemented in cooperation with the Council of Europe and the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) of the European Commission.
