On Monday, the Zagreb County Court rejected the government's request to ban the strike of judicial employees who are asking higher salaries, the court reported.

The court reasoned that the strike organised by the Union of State and Local Civil Servants and Employees (SDLSN) in order to increase the salaries of civil servants and employees in the judicial sector and the state attorney’s office is a strike organised to protect and promote the economic and social interests of civil servants and employees, and that has a permissible aim and purpose.

The court adds that the strike was organised in accordance with the provisions of the Labor Law and by the union which is authorized to do so and for which representativeness does not need to be determined, and adds that there are no reasons why the strike would be impermissible and illegal.

SDLSN’s proposal to question Prime Minister rejected

The county court announced that it has rejected the SDLSN’s evidence proposal for the questioning of Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on the circumstances of the reasons why the government allows and pays for strikes of services financed from the state budget, while proposing to ban others.

The court specified that the factual situation has been established to a sufficient extent that a correct and legal verdict could be passed, and that the presentation of this evidence is unnecessary, especially when it is taken into account that the essential facts necessary for adjudication between the parties are not in dispute and are between the parties disputed legal issues.

The court had previously announced that on Monday after 10:00 a.m. it would announce the final decision on the government’s claim, which requests that the strike of the Union of State and Local Civil Servants and Employees (SDLSN), which began on Monday at 7:00 a.m., be banned as illegal.

The verdict of the Zagreb County Court on the legality of the strike is not final and it can be appealed, and SDLSN announces a strike until the demands are fulfilled.

SDLSN president Iva Suskovic confirmed to Hina this morning that the strike has started and that, according to the preliminary estimates from the field, officials in about 80 courts in Croatia, with branches in about 27 municipal state attorney’s offices and 14 county state attorney’s offices, are on strike.

Suskovic should inform the public about the progress of the strike at 11:30 a.m. in front of the Zagreb Municipal Civil Court.

At the same time, Minister Ivan Malenica was supposed to receive representatives of the Croatian Judicial Police Union, who are demanding a 15 percent increase in the coefficient and also, if an agreement is not reached, threatening to enter into a conciliation procedure and a possible strike.

The municipal and county courts in the country, as Hina has learned, deal exclusively with urgent cases, as well as during the judges’ strike, which means holding only hearings for determining or extending pretrial detention and for precautionary measures. At the same time, files that can fall under the statute of limitations will be dealt with.

Last Friday, the court rejected the government’s proposal to determine a temporary strike prohibition measure, which, as the government claims, could cause irreparable material damage to the general public and the prosecutor.

The government asked for a ban on the strike, considering it illegal because the SDLSN is asking for an increase in the coefficient for employees in the judiciary, and this cannot be negotiated because the coefficients are regulated by the government decree.

The government assesses that the strike is illegal because SDLSN lost its trade union representativeness after part of its membership transferred to the police unions, which made them representative of all civil servants and state employees.