The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) has published its latest report based on data collected in 2022.

The information was provided by 44 of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe. In its analysis, the CEPEJ emphasises the need for the digitalisation of justice, as IT systems have proven useful during the COVID-19 pandemic to maintain and speed up court proceedings.

Croatia: Lengthy court proceedings and many unresolved cases

The data for Croatia is quite discouraging, as the country remains among the leaders in terms of the length of court proceedings and the number of unresolved cases.

However, the report notes that the number of unresolved cases has decreased somewhat since 2020, as judgements have been handed down in major labour and consumer cases in the meantime.

Croatia is one of six countries that have reduced their spending on courts. In addition to Croatia, Montenegro, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden and Ukraine have also done so.

In other countries, the trend is an increase in court budgets – by 51% in Armenia, 74% in Azerbaijan and 85% in Georgia. This budget increase is mainly related to salary increases, the purchase of IT equipment, higher court fees, a higher number of cases and new court buildings.

No salary increase for State Attorney’s Office

Alongside Denmark and Portugal, Croatia is one of the only three countries that did not increase the budget for State Attorney’s Office (DORH) between 2020 and 2022.

Cyprus recorded the largest increase of 194% due to a general reform of the state attorney system and salary increases for counsellors in the Attorney General’s Office.

The CEPEJ notes that only 20% of countries, namely nine, have exams or special exams that judges must pass in order to be promoted. In 71% of countries there are no special procedures and in most countries judges are promoted on the basis of appraisals.

In some cases, they also have to pass interviews, as is the case in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

What was analysed?

The report also analysed the gender structure of judges and prosecutors, with women in the majority in Croatia.

It also looked at the possibility for defendants to be exempted from paying costs if this would jeopardise their livelihood, as is the case in Croatia. In Croatia, there are three courts per 100,000 inhabitants, while the average in the Council of Europe member states is 1.38.

Only in Croatia and Monaco does it take longer than a year for a court case to be finalised. However, Croatia has improved its efficiency, as mass lawsuits were processed during the reporting period.