The Ministry of Justice on Sunday assessed as outrageous the postponement of court hearings in cases of ​​parental care and children's rights, which is done at the instruction of the Association of Croatian Judges, pointing out that their instructions are clearly more important than the welfare of children and the law that protects their rights.

In a press release, the Ministry of Justice referred to yesterday’s statement in the media by the vice-president of the Association of Croatian Judges, Tijana Kokić, who said that some of the postponed hearings in proceedings in which courts decide on matrimonial, family and other matters “may not be urgent or not urgent at all times.”

“All in order to try to justify the fact that in the first week of the strike alone, judges cancelled as many as 38.51 percent of hearings in cases of ​​parental care and children’s rights.” Especially since in some of the decisions to postpone the hearings that decide on the rights of the child, it is indicated that they are made based on the conclusions of the Association of Croatian Judges,” the Ministry’s press release states.

In addition, they emphasised that the Family Law clearly stipulates that urgent cases are those in which decisions are made about the rights of the child or parental care.

“The Ministry therefore maintains that it is outrageous that the conclusion and instruction of an association is clearly more important than the welfare of children and the law that protects their rights, regardless of whether the judges are on strike or not,” they added.

The Ministry also considers Vice President Kokić’s statement that she “postponed only one hearing in which it was about increasing the alimony, but there will be no irreparable damage if it is postponed for two or three weeks”.

“Does this mean that it does not matter whether a child will receive the additional funds necessary to meet his life needs? Perhaps that child will not receive a new winter jacket, go on a school trip, because one parent cannot finance it alone. For some, perhaps financially two or three weeks means nothing, while to someone else it’s an eternity,” the Ministry said.

Statements like this and citing bad examples, in order to justify the groundless reason for postponing the hearings, harm the welfare of children, the Ministry of Justice says.