Ministers Milinovic and Suker Stole Our Court - Current Events - Croatia

Milinovic is a constant, and Suker an occasional guest of Novalja, and that link is moving the court from Pag to another county, to Novalja.

In Pag, they claim that the closing of their court and its movement to Novalja is being arranged by the Novalja-Lika connection led by the Croatian Minister of Health, Darko Milinovic. Allegedly he is being helped by the Minister of Finance, Ivan Suker, who at the start of January spent a few days in Novalja where Milinovic is a regular guest.

Usage permit

The building of the court in Novalja, that was made in 2003/2004 did not have a usage permit because it did not have a parking lot, and some parts of it are allegedly disputed. If the Ministry of Justice as the central state body that defines the legal system allows the formation of a court in that building, that is a bureaucracy problem to say the least, then it is very clear that they do not have enough information, or as the people in Pag assume, political pressure is in question.

So the Novalja-Lika link, say Pag’s residents, is on its path to overpower the one from zadar, led by the Minister of Sea, Transport and Development, Bozidar Kalmeta. The case of the possible cancellation of the court in Pag, is not only an issue for the city of Pag and its mayor Andrej Buksa, who is against that, but it is more an issue of the Zadar County.

“By cancelling the court in Pag, the Zadar County will only have one offence court, and the Lika-Senj County will have three, even though it is smaller. Where is the logic? We expect strong support from the Zadar County, and we will do everything so that the court remains where it is and belongs, and where it has operated for 60 years, in Pag” said Buksa.

This has led Pag’s residents to think how somebody framed the Pag case onto minister Ivo Simonovic, and that he would not do that ever if he were informed of the situation.

Basic principle of rationalisation of courts broken

The proposed law on offence court headquarters, from the Ministry of Justice, made a few rough mistakes in the Pag case. This can be seen from the basic principle of rationalising offence courts in Croatia. Under the section called “finances needs for rationalisation” the main principle is cited as “ adaptation and decoration of existing courts in which smaller courts will be joined”.

This principle, according to the stance of the Ministry of Justice is not valid in the Pag case, because the court is Pag is not being adapted or renovated, but closed. Even worse, the basic principle of rationalising courts was broken, because in the Pag case, they want to close one court in order to form a totally new one. The law from 1998 that opens the offence court in Novalja, states that only those offence courts will work that have enough judges and court officials in a certain time period will be able to work. In Novalja there are no judges or court officials, which was confirmed by the spokesperson of the ministry, Vesna Dovranic.

New work positions?

The argument that the formation of a new court in Novalja would create new work positions is not valid, because the same workers from the current court in Pag would work there. Only in the future, in that case, they would have to travel which would greatly increase expenses, which again goes against the principle of rationalisation and economy of the courts, because funds would not be saved but increased. Also, the decision is not supported by the fact that around 80 percent of the cases come from the city of Pag. All of those clients would have to travel to Novalja, which is totally against the economics of the court.

“The offence court in Novalja exists, but a judge from the offence court in Pag would occasionally go there” she said.

Court that exists is being founded

Whilst the offence court in Novalja “exists”, the offence court in Pag has six employees and the question must be asked, which court is larger. However, on the official website of the ministry, it says that the offence court in Novalja is “being founded”, so people ask who is crazy and who is ill informed.

“How can a court that exists be listed as “being founded”. Who is making a fool of who” asked Buksa.

What are the political interests of that political current that obviously want to give Novalja an offence court against all of the principles of the rationalisation of courts in Croatia, and in doing so close a court in Pag that has existed for 60 years. However, obviously a huge, and according to Pag’s residents, deliberate mistake has been made in somebody’s political interests.

	Login
	Password