“We welcome the planned activities of the ministry that should result in the improvement of legal certainty and business and investment environment in the Republic of Croatia. The efficiency of the judiciary is of great importance for the business community, as presented in the Business Climate Survey that AmCham regularly conducts every year among its members,” said Andrea Doko Jelušić, Executive Director of AmCham Croatia.

“After the relaxation of epidemiologic measures and the resumption of economic activities, it is expected that the judicial system will be additionally burdened with new cases (enforcements, bankruptcies, litigations, etc.), and in combination with the existing backlogs, this will contribute to the creation of an additional business insecurity in Croatia,” Doko Jelušić added.

The recommendations for the improvement of court activities are aimed at resolving the problems concerning backlogs that appeared during the COVID-19 crisis, as well as permanently increasing the efficiency of the courts. AmCham proposes the introduction of two-shift work of courts, the automatic delegation by type and number of the case, the introduction of deadlines for each stage of court proceedings, the promotion of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR), the amendment of the Methodology for Judicial Performance Assessment, the creation of a national court register, and court hearings held by means of electronic communication.

The recommendations for amendments to the Corporations Act will remove the obstacles that foreign entrepreneurs face in transferring business shares or winding up inactive companies within the territory of the Republic of Croatia in a simple way which does not require them to be physically present in the Republic of Croatia, and these recommendations will also prevent them from refraining from doing business in the Republic of Croatia if they potentially must face a long and expensive winding-up procedure in the event of cessation of business.