Reinforcing the system of court-annexed mediation

Croatia (HR)

Project facts

Project promoter:
Directorate for Civil, Trade and Administrative Law of the Ministry of Justice(HR)
Project Number:
HR-JUSTICE-0004
Status:
In implementation
Initial project cost:
€1,500,000
Donor Project Partners:
Norwegian Courts Administration(NO)
Other Project Partners
Judicial Academy(HR)
Programme:
Justice and Home Affairs

More information

Description

Croatian citizens and business entities use state courts to settle disputes almost exclusively, resulting in courts being overburdened with cases and becoming increasingly ineffective. Number of civil law cases where court-annexed mediation was used is extremely low in relation to overall number of cases on municipal and commercial courts. Therefore, additional measures are required to increase the use of court-annexed mediation in the Republic of Croatia.

The project includes cross-border cooperation element, namely, analysis of the existing mediation system in comparison with other European states will be carried out (Norway, Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Slovenia) to highlight the possibilities for improving the Croatian mediation system. Cooperation will be realised through study visits to mentioned countries to gain insight into the functioning of their system of alternative dispute settlement

 

The overall objective: Strengthened rule of law and increased efficiency of the judiciary

 

The specific objective: Reinforce the system of court-annexed mediation in the Republic of Croatia and increase its use

The project consists of following components:

  • Component 1 – Analysis of the existing mediation system in comparison with other European states
  • Component 2 – Sociological-legal examination of the reasons behind the underutilization of mediation
  • Component 3 – Manual on court mediation
  • Component 4 – Training the professional staff (judges, lawyers, civil servants, court advisers, state attorneys) on mediation
  • Component 5 - Awareness raising campaign

Information on the projects funded by the EEA and Norway Grants is provided by the Programme and Fund Operators in the Beneficiary States, who are responsible for the completeness and accuracy of this information.