At the 10th session of the Croatian Parliament, Minister of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation Damir Habijan presented the Proposal for the Act on Amendments to the Act on the Legal Profession, to harmonise Croatian legislation with the EU acquis
‘In October last year, the European Commission found that the existing Act on the Legal Profession did not comply with the EU
acquis. A key amendment thus refers to the deletion of the provision stipulating that an attorney may practice in only one organisational form at a time, that is, independently, in a joint office or in a law firm’, explained Minister Habijan at the beginning of his address.
The proposed amendments will also explicitly allow law firms from other EU Member States to establish law firms i.e. subsidiaries in Croatia.
The Minister also stated that the amendments concern the implementation of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Jones Day case, which found it necessary to allow part of the traineeship to be carried out with a domestic lawyer established in another EU Member State, provided that such traineeship provides the same level of training and experience as the traineeship in the native country.
Current legal amendments also cover retired university professors of legal subjects.
‘These amendments propose that professors who have retired from their position as law professors at universities in Croatia be given the opportunity to provide legal advice and opinions. At the same time, together with professors and assistant professors of legal subjects, they would undertake to take out liability insurance under the same conditions as attorneys’, stressed Minister Habijan.
Speaking about the harmonisation process, the Minister said that Croatia had actively participated in discussions on this matter with the European Commission during the entire process, which had started back in 2017, and had presented arguments that the existing law was in line with the EU
acquis. However, being in the final stage of the infringement procedure at the moment, there is no longer room for further steps beyond harmonising the legislation.
Finally, the Minister highlighted that Croatia had to align the existing Act with the Services Directive and the Directive to facilitate practice of the profession of lawyer on a permanent basis, pointing out that the same rules applied to all Member States of the European Union.
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