Remedies and enforcement

AuthorBojic, Ines
Pages75-89
75
6 REMEDIES AND ENFORCEMENT
6.1 Judicial and/or administrative procedures (Article 7 Directive 2000/43,
Article 9 Directive 2000/78)
a) Available procedures for enforcing the principle of equal treatment
In Croatia, the following procedures exist for enforcing the principle of equal treatment.
A victim of discrimination can seek protection through judicial proceedings civil and/or
criminal (both adjudicated by ordinary courts) and/or misdemeanour (for less serious
offences adjudicated by misdemeanour courts).341
In civil proceedings a victim of discrimination can file a claim seeking protection of his or
her individual rights claiming that a right has been violated on acco unt of discrimination
(incidental anti-discrimination protection) or a claim seeking a ruling on the existence of
discrimination as the main issue (special individual anti-discrimination action). In the
latter case victims can ask for:
determination of the existence of discrimination (declaratory anti-discrimination
claim) and/or
prohibition of discrimination (prohibitive anti-discrimination claim) and/or
elimination of discrimination or its effects (restitution anti-discrimination claim)
and/or
damages for the harm caused by discrimination (reparational anti-discrimination
claim) and/or
publication of the decision determining the existence of discrimination (publicational
anti-discrimination claim).
The civil procedure is the same for employment in the private and public sectors, except
that a claimant who wants to file a claim against the state is obliged to send a request to
the State Attorney’s Office for an amicable settlement. If the State Attorney’s Office
declines the request or does not respond within 90 days, the claim can be filed with the
court.342
Criminal offences of discrimination (see section 6.5 below) are crimes subject to public
prosecution, so a victim of discrimination could in theory just file a criminal complaint
with the State Attorney’s Office. If the State Attorney’s Office decides not to prosecute
(e.g. if it considers that the act in question is not a criminal offence), the victim is
authorised to take over the prosecution of the case as a subsidiary prosecutor, within
eight days from the notification of the decision by the State Attorney’s Office.
The Anti-discrimination Act specifies misdemeanour liability for harassment, sexual
harassment and victimisation, but not for other forms of discrimination.343 A victim of
discrimination can file a complaint with the Ombudsperson as the central body
responsible for anti-discrimination. If a person faces discrimination by an administrative
act, he or she can file a complaint with the Administrative Court of the Republic of
Croatia, which is authorised to review the legality of administrative acts.
Finally, a victim of discrimination can file a constitutional complaint with the
Constitutional Court if he or she deems that an individual act of a state body, a body of
local and regional self-government or a legal person with public authority that
341 Misdemeanour courts deal with minor offences; Misdemeanours Act, 3 October 2007, Prekršajni zakon,
(Official Gazette 107/2007, 39/2013, 157/2013, 110/2015, 70/17, 118/18).
342 Civil Procedure Act, 24 December 1976, Zakon o parničnom postupku, Article 186(a).
343 Misdemeanours are minor offences, most often prosecuted ex officio in proceedings similar to criminal
proceedings.

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