ZAGREB, 5 Oct, 2021 - In an effort to increase employment of the Roma community in Međimurje, the Justice and Public Administration Ministry has launched a pilot project for Roma mentors, which was presented in Čakovec on Tuesday.

The pilot project is being implemented within a project to improve the protection of human rights and public security through strengthening capacities in probation services. The project is valued at €2.1 million and it is being financed from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism.

Part of the funds is earmarked for the employment of six Roma from Međimurje County for a period of 19 months as Roma mentors.

 After attending training, which will be conducted by Czech experts with experience in similar projects, the Roma mentors will provide support to probation offices, the police, employment service, public health institute, state inspectorate and other social welfare and educational institutions.

State-secretary in the Ministry, Josip Salapić, underscored that the project is aimed at totally including the Roma minority in society.

This is the first project of this kind in Croatia, the head of the prison system and probation administration, Jana Špero said.

An advisor in the Interior Ministry, Vladimir Faber, said that a lot is expected from this project.

"It will enable two-way communication between institutions and Roma communities and between institutions themselves," Faber said, adding that the biggest problem in Roma communities is poverty, social exclusion, poor education, crime among minors, which can be changed with mutual communication.

President of the Kali Sara Roma alliance in Croatia,  Suzana Krčmar, underscored that the Roma will always offer their hand and be open to everyone, especially those who are their friends.

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ZAGREB, 19 May, 2021 - Justice and Public Administration Minister Ivan Malenica announced on Wednesday that he would meet with his Bosnian counterpart early next month to discuss amending the bilateral agreement that regulates enforcement of prison sentences.

His announcement came after former Dinamo Zagreb coach Zoran Mamić was arrested in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday morning on a Croatian warrant.

Malenica said that the Croatian Ministry of Justice and Administration would prepare documentation to support the extradition request and that the competent court in Bosnia and Herzegovina would decide whether the criteria for Mamić's extradition to Croatia were met.

"It is for the competent court to establish all the facts based on the law on international judicial assistance in criminal matters and the bilateral agreement with Bosnia and Herzegovina," Malenica told a press conference in Zagreb.

Asked if he expected the same scenario as for Zoran's brother Zdravko Mamić, whose extradition had been rejected, Malenica would not speculate, saying that the matter would be decided by the competent court in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Malenica said he had talked with Bosnia and Herzegovina's justice minister and that they would meet at the start of June to discuss launching the procedure to amend the bilateral agreement.

Zoran Mamić has been sentenced in Croatia to four years and eight months in prison for siphoning funds from the Dinamo Zagreb football club. He was arrested in Međugorje, southern Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday morning and handed over to the State Court which will decide on Croatia's extradition request.

Mamić has confirmed earlier that he holds dual Croatian and Bosnian citizenship and wants to serve the prison sentence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which the Croatian court has rejected.

The Bosnian State Court is expected to reject the extradition request on the ground that Mamić holds Bosnian citizenship.

As for the case of Zdravko Mamić, who also wants to serve his prison term in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malenica said that the Ministry had been notified by the Osijek County Court that the conditions under the law on international judicial assistance were not met and that the Ministry was acting accordingly

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ZAGREB, 24 March, 2021 - Justice Minister Ivan Malenica said on Wednesday that it was in everybody's interest to have the situation in the judicial system sorted out as soon as possible.

Also, if the accusations made by convicted former Dinamo football club boss Zdravko Mamić against some judges prove to be well-founded, necessary proceedings should be expedited, Malenica told the RTL broadcaster on Wednesday evening.

Considering this case, Malenica said that the depositions of the judges concerned had been submitted and would be forwarded to the relevant bodies, including the DORH and USKOK prosecutorial authorities.

Furthermore, the State Judicial Council is expected to decide on disciplinary measures against the judges from Osijek County Court next week, he added.

Considering Zdravko Mamić's accusations against the Supreme Court President Đuro Sessa, Malenica said that Sessa had stated that his last contact with Mamić was some 15 years ago.

He added that there were currently no indications hinting at the possibility of launching proceedings against Sessa.

Malenica announced that an inspection would be conducted at Osijek County Court following the latest developments.

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ZAGREB, 23 March, 2021 - The parliamentary Judiciary Committee on Tuesday unanimously supported a proposal to call a session focusing on the situation in the Croatian judiciary.

The schedule and the list of guests is to be defined by the end of the week, after which the date for the thematic session of the committee will be set, Committee chair Mišel Jakšić of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said.

He said the committee could invite Justice Minister Ivan Malenica, Supreme Court President Đuro Sessa and State Judicial Council (DSV) President Darko Milković.

"It is clear from the public perception that people do not trust the judiciary, they believe that corruption in state institutions is widespread," Jakšić said, stressing that it is necessary to start a discussion about that and put forward concrete proposals for improving the situation in the judiciary.

Jakšić said that he would not want former Dinamo football club boss Zdravko Mamić, recently sentenced to six and a half years in prison for siphoning money from the club, to be the main topic of the committee session, stressing that his case should be dealt with by judicial bodies.

As for media reports alleging former president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović's involvement in corruption, Jakšić said he expected those reports to be investigated, calling the accusations horrible and "an attack on the judiciary and the foundations of the state."

Dražen Bošnjaković (HDZ), chair of the parliamentary Committee on the Constitution and Standing Orders and a member of the Judiciary Committee, said that problems that had lately escalated required a special committee session to discuss them.

He said that he did not have information that Mamić had co-financed Grabar-Kitarović's presidential campaign, adding only that the law on the financing of political parties and political campaigns envisaged very transparent publication of all information and the opening of separate accounts to see what is being financed and who finances what.

"Zdravko Mamić can say anything he wants, but all those statements have to be checked," he said.

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ZAGREB, 17 March, 2021 - Minister of Justice and Public Administration Ivan Malenica said on Wednesday that he expects the State Attorney to urgently investigate claims made by football mogul Zdravko Mamić who has accused Supreme Court Chief Justice Đuro Sessa and Osijek County Court judges of corruption.

"I trust that the competent bodies will urgently check Mr Mamić's claims and the content of the (USB) stick which I am not familiar with at the moment, and that they will quickly determine whether the accusations, which I consider grave and serious, are founded," said Malenica, adding that Mamić said that he had given a USB stick with the material to the competent bodies.

Malenica told reporters that that case was now with the State Attorney, who had received the material and would now check it to determine if the claims were authentic after which certain procedures would be launched accordingly.

Asked whether it would be appropriate for the county court judges and chief justice whom Mamić mentioned to be temporarily suspended until the investigation was completed, considering the gravity of the accusations, Malenica said that that was up to the State Judicial Council.

"The accusations are grave, but if we were to react to all the accusations against individual judges and suspend them, I don't know where we would be," said Malenica.

Asked whether the reaction was sufficiently prompt considering the fact that Mamić sent the USB stick last October, Malenica said that he was not familiar with the content of the documents and what sort of reaction they required from the competent bodies that need to determine their authenticity based on defined procedures before any conclusion can be released. He said that the question was for the State Attorney's Office to say how fast it should have, could have or would have to react.

"I cannot say if there is anything contentious, however, I do expect the State Attorney to react as soon as possible if there are any grounds based on those claims to launch certain proceedings, and that will certainly reflect on the status of those judges," said Malenica.

He believes that Supreme Court Chief Justice Đuro Sessa and the other judges Mamić mentioned, need to react to Mamić's claims. "I expect Sessa, as does the entire public, to react to the allegations but I think this isn't the first time Mamić has mentioned Sessa," said Malenica.

Malenica added that he can't say whether this will affect Sessa's chances of being re-elected as Supreme Court Chief Justice but he believes that accusations against him are grave and serious.

After the Supreme Court upheld a first instance ruling sentencing Mamić to six and a half years in prison, during a press conference in Mostar yesterday, Mamić accused Sessa and Osijek County Court Judges Zvonko Vekić and Darko Krušlin of corruption while calling the chief justice of that court, Judge Zvonko Vrban, a criminal.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that Sessa had no intention of reacting to the "absurd and untrue claims," whereas the USKOK anti-corruption office said that "Zdravko Mamić had sent his statement on a (USB) stick to the State Attorney on 8 October last year and as soon as the stick was received, USKOK began investigating its content and the investigation is still ongoing."

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ZAGREB, 9 March, 2021 - A total of 36,257 births were registered in Croatia in 2020 as against 36,553 in 2019, the Večernji List daily said on Tuesday, quoting data from the Justice and Public Administration Ministry.

In 2020 there were 15,163 marriages, of which 6,497 took place in a religious ceremony and 8,666 in a civil ceremony. This is as many as 4,779 fewer marriages than in 2019. Last year also saw 66 life partnerships between persons of the same sex, an increase of 47 life partnerships compared to 2019. Most life partnerships were registered in Zagreb and in Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Istria counties.

A total of 59,814 persons died in 2020, an increase from 54,050 deaths in 2019.

On 31 December 2020, there were 4,610,461 voters on the electoral register, of whom 3,709,444 lived in Croatia and 901,017 abroad.

Most out-of-country voters were from Bosnia and Herzegovina (322,298), followed by Germany (118,587) and Serbia (115,492).

The citizenship of 178,867 voters was not known.

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