Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/zpfz.76.3.4
Applicability of European Union Directives on Procedural Defence Rights in Quasi-Criminal Proceedings With Reference to Croatian Misdemeanour Proceedings
Marin Bonačić
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Nikša Vojvoda
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
This paper examines the applicability of six EU directives on the procedural rights of suspects and accused persons in criminal proceedings to quasi-criminal proceedings, with particular reference to Croatian misdemeanour law. Based on a normative analysis of the directives, their recitals, preparatory materials, and the case law of the CJEU and ECtHR, the paper identifies the rules governing their scope of application. Five of these directives apply to quasi-criminal proceedings, but their application is limited where minor offences are adjudicated by a body other than a court having jurisdiction in criminal matters and no custodial sentence is possible. The three newer directives extend their full application to situations involving deprivation of liberty, regardless of the stage of the proceedings. The Directive on the presumption of innocence is not applicable to quasi-criminal proceedings. Where the directives do not apply, the ECHR and the EU Charter serve as compensatory mechanisms. Applied to Croatian misdemeanour proceedings, these rules produce uneven results. The directives fully apply in proceedings before misdemeanour courts, and their applicability is limited in first-instance proceedings before state administration bodies and in mandatory misdemeanour order proceedings, where they apply only upon appeal or objection. In misdemeanour order proceedings, the directives sometimes apply or should apply from the outset, and sometimes only after an objection has been lodged. The paper argues that the current transposition, which relies on subsidiary application of the Criminal Procedure Act for three directives, is inadequate and that explicit transposition into the Misdemeanour Act is needed.
Keywords
EU Directives on procedural rights of the defence; misdemeanour proceedings; quasi-criminal proceedings; rights of the defence; Europeanisation of misdemeanour law
Hrčak ID:
349762
URI
Publication date:
24.7.2026.
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