A dozen of members of a commission for the amendments to the Protection of the Population against Infectious Diseases Act spent the weekend working on provisions for punishing persons not adhering to epidemiological measures, especially mask-wearing, Jutarnji List daily said on Sunday.

The final decision on the fine has not been reached, but the national COVID-19 crisis management team said the minimum would be HRK 700, and the payment model would be similar to that for traffic fines, so if the fine is paid immediately, a 50% discount will apply.

As for the question who will collect the fines and whether a civil protection inspector can ask an offender for their identity card, Jutarnji List learnt that only an official person can ask someone for their ID, that is a police officer.

“However, these should be exceptional situations. Perhaps it is best to take the example of tram ticket inspectors. They collect fines, i.e. penalise a person without a ticket, and if the person doesn’t cooperate, the police are called,” a source told Jutarnji List, adding that everything should be within the legislative framework.

Branka Zigante-Masic, a retired judge of the High Misdemeanour Court, thinks citizens were irresponsible.

“Clearly, penalties had to be introduced to protect people from the disease spreading,” she said.

According to Zigante-Masic, introducing penalties for not wearing masks will not burden courts because it could be arranged so that those who pay the fine immediately, without court proceedings, pay only half the fine, thus avoiding higher costs.