Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 24th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview Main Conference Theme Author(s) Mateja Held University of Zagreb Zagreb Croatia Title Evaluation of the Administrative Courts’ Reform in Croatia File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Mateja Held Abstract Evaluation of the Administrative Courts' Reform in Croatia This paper deals with the recent reform of administrative judiciary system, which was established in 1952, enacted by the Administrative Disputes Act in 2012. Although the reform was based on the series of documents, strategies and by experts in the field, the new system still suffers from inadequate regulation of administrative dispute in certain elements. The presentation is divided in three main parts – reform of administrative judiciary system, results of the reform and analysis of the existing problems. The main focus of the first part will be the reform of administrative judiciary which started during the EU accession process, after the conclusion of association agreements and during the efforts to meet the criteria for joining the EU. The reasons for the reform were numerous, and as most important of those one could point out non conformity with the EU standards and acquis communautarie, absence of the appeal against the first instance judgement, a large number of pending cases before the court, no public hearing before the administrative court as the result of the reserve which Croatia put on the article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, no judicial control over the general acts, etc. EU document which was important for the reform regarding general acts was the Recommendation Rec (2004) 6 of the Committee of Ministers to Member States on improvement of domestic remedies. The analysis will include various preparatory acts, draft acts and strategies adopted in the CARDS programme (Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation). The main objective of this programme was to strengthen the capacity of the Croatian Administrative Court in order to provide prompt and effective legal assistance in accordance with the principle of the rule of law. The main purpose of the reform was similar and it was reflected in three objectives: increasing the efficiency of court procedures, their shorter duration and reducing the backlog in solving them. The second part of the presentation will include the analysis of the results of the reform. Newly adopted institutes will be presented, such as the current organisation of the administrative courts, the subject of the administrative dispute, appeal against the first instance judgement, the subject of the administrative dispute, the conceptual shift from the cassation to the reformation decision-making in the administrative dispute, etc. The third part will focus on the detecting problems that persist in spite of the reform. Those include for example, the inadequate number of judges when deciding on the legality of individual acts and the regulation of the control of the legality of general acts. Some suggestions will be given for the improvement of the existing system, which consequently could help in protection of the individual rights of the citizens which is stated as one of the fundamental principle of the Croatian Administrative Disputes Act.
