Return study visit of Norwegian judges to the Prison System and Probation Directorate

On 2 and 3 October 2023, as part of the project “Strengthening human rights protection and public safety by improving the capacities of the Croatian probation service”, financed under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, seven judges of the Borgarting Court of Appeal, Norway, visited Croatia.

Apart from the staff of the Probation Sector, their hosts were Ms Ivana Bilušić, Judge of the County Court in Velika Gorica, Ms Marija Balenović, Judge of the High Criminal Court of the Republic of Croatia, Ms Dijana Rizvić, Head of Juvenile Department of the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb, Ms Kornelija Kallay Blažeković, Judge of the County Court in Velika Gorica and Ms Nikolina Pilja, Deputy State Attorney. The welcoming address was delivered by the Director General of the Prison System and Probation Directorate, Mr Zvonimir Penić. 
During the study visit, the Norwegian delegation had the opportunity to get acquainted with the functioning of the Croatian judicial system, the court-annexed mediation system in Croatia and the specificities of the treatment of juvenile offenders. As part of this visit, the Norwegian judges also visited the High Criminal Court of the Republic of Croatia, where they were received by Court President Željko Horvatović and his Deputy Snježana Hrupek Šabijan, and were presented with the work of the Court.

The second day of the visit was dedicated to juveniles in the Croatian judicial system, and the delegation had the opportunity to both present and hear on the topic from relevant experts from the Juvenile Department of the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb, the Municipal State Attorney’s Office in Zagreb, the Faculty of Law in Zagreb and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia. Presentations on the juvenile justice system were delivered in the premises of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration and were streamed on Teams so that interested judges from all over Croatia could follow.


The study visit served to strengthen links between the Croatian and the Norwegian judiciary, and to exchange experiences and good practices.