Minister Damir Habijan was a guest on the Croatian Radio morning programme "A sad Vlada" to discuss current affairs related to the arrest of former minister of health, expansion of prison capacities and speeding up of court proceedings
In response to the question regarding the so-called Microscopes affair, Minister Damir Habijan pointed out:
“This case is only proof that the Government and the line ministry are supporting all relevant institutions in the fight against corruption. The fundamental and key message is that there are no untouchables, regardless of the function and office one holds. If what the former minister is accused of is true, then he should be held accountable."
Asked whether the time had come to redefine the "6 + 6" institute, the Minister replied that the Government was open to discuss possible amendments to the regulation regulating this privilege, pointing to the fact that the law under which members of the Government had immunity had already been amended to the effect that immunity no longer existed in the case of corruption offences.
Information lakage and activation of Article 307a of the Criminal Code
“I find it unacceptable that, in parallel with the proceedings before the judicial authorities, we have a live stream of the entire proceedings in the media. This is not in the interest of criminal proceedings or the authorities conducting secret enquiries or investigations, for those affected by those enquiries or investigations to find out information through the media and thus be able to compromise the entire proceedings. This is the point of the secrecy of investigation from Article 307a of the Criminal Code", the Minister said.
He clarified that Article 307 of the Criminal Code already prohibited the public disclosure of any information relating to proceedings that is classified as secret, regardless of the type of proceedings involved.
“I think it would be a good idea for the State Attorney’s Office to communicate an action once it is carried out. This cannot be done by the Government or the minister. The meaning of protection of the interest of criminal proceedings and the point of the article is to enable competent authorities, in accordance with positive regulations, to carry out actions to protect criminal proceedings and prevent those who are reasonably suspected of having committed a specific criminal offence from learning about it before they should”, Minister Habijan explained.
When asked whether any journalists could be covered by the DORH's investigation regarding the information leak, the Minister pointed out that Article 307a exhaustively lists the persons who may be the perpetrators of this criminal offence: "Journalists are not included and this is not applicable to them at all".
Expansion of prison capacities
Minister Habijan also spoke about the expansion of prison capacities.
"The biggest challenge at the moment is Article 326 of the Criminal Code, which refers to persons who enter, stay and move illegally in the Republic of Croatia. They represent 17.5% of the total number of persons deprived of liberty. In addition, 44% of the total number of persons deprived of liberty relates to pre-trial detention, which is also a matter of concern. I think it is high time we started expanding and building new facilities.”
He explained that the construction of modular prisons in Varaždin and Lipovica-Popovača would provide about 300 additional places in the prison system and that the completion of works was expected in mid-2026.
‘It is planned to build three more large prisons, one on the territory of the Municipality of Perušić, for which a tripartite agreement has been signed, one in Sisak-Moslavina County and one in Osijek-Baranja County. This may not be popular, but I am aware of my responsibility as Minister of Justice. We must also focus on people working in the prison system, primarily the judicial police officers, but also on all the other civil servants and employees who are part of the prison system", stressed Minister Habijan.
Court backlogs
Responding to the question of what can be done to speed up proceedings in courts, the Minister recalled the large influx of cases, amounting to one million and two hundred thousand cases per year.
"We have a much higher number of incoming cases in courts compared to other countries of the European Union and I think that more emphasis should be placed on alternative dispute resolution. This is why we are planning to amend the Peaceful Dispute Resolution Act next year. In addition, once we have a complete solution with the Service of Judicial Documents Act, the service will be much simpler and more efficient, which will also contribute to speeding up proceedings.
With the entry into force of the Administrative Disputes Act in July this year, we have introduced a model dispute applicable in situations where there are five or more cases that are factually identical. On the basis of a single decision, a much larger number of cases can be resolved. I believe this will also relieve the burden on the courts and speed up proceedings", concluded the Minister.
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