Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.3935/zpfz.71.5.05
Did Croatian Preparatory Proceedings Contribute to the Concentration and Shorter Duration of Civil Proceedings?
Juraj Brozović
orcid.org/0000-0003-2362-4580
; Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
After more than ten years of application of the rules introducing the preparatory proceedings, which have been the subject of several amendments to the Civil Procedure Act, there is a need to examine whether such a gradual structural change has indeed led to concentrated and shorter proceedings with fewer hearings. The official data published by the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia, i.e, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia does not include data on the duration of the proceedings or the reason for such situation, nor does it explain how long its individual stages last or how many hearings are held in an average proceeding. Our research offers an innovative methodology and presents the results of extensive empirical research, which, on the one hand, considers actual data on the duration of proceedings and the number of hearings from the official case record system and, on the other hand, analyzes a representative sample of cases of the largest Croatian municipal court, trying to identify potential causes of inefficient proceedings. Finally, this paper proposes the necessary changes to the rules on the preparatory proceedings, as well as in the mentality of judges, lawyers and other legal professionals involved in the proceedings.
Keywords
preparatory proceedings; empirical research; duration of proceedings; number of hearings; loyal cooperation; proportionality
Hrčak ID:
272076
URI
Publication date:
31.1.2022.
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