Judicial inspection

Judicial inspection performs the tasks of supervision over regularity and legality of the performance of judicial administration functions in courts.

Types of inspection:
  • regular inspection - in accordance with the annual inspection plan adopted by the Minister of Justice and Public Administration by the end of a calendar year for the following year,
  • control inspection – conducted to establish if the president of a court has undertaken measures and activities to eliminate irregularities in the performance of judicial administration functions, identified during regular inspection,
  • extraordinary inspection – conducted upon petitions and complaints about the operation of a court, or information about illegal or irregular performance of judicial administration functions.

Inspection can be conducted:
  • directly, by on-site examination of:
  • documentation,
  • data,
  • working conditions and
  • functioning of the court under inspection; or
  • indirectly, by examining:
  • submitted documentation and
  • submitted data of the court under inspection.
Upon completed direct inspection, an official written record is made with the following contents:
  • data on ascertained facts,
  • measures proposed for the purpose of remedying the identified irregularities and illegalities,
  • measures proposed for the purpose of increasing the efficiency of the court, and
  • time limits for implementing the measures.
The record may include a proposal to the Minister of Justice and Public Administration to submit a proposal for the dismissal of the president of the inspected court as stipulated by the Act on the State Judicial Council.
The inspection record is delivered to the president of the inspected court. The president of the court is obligated to respond to the record in writing, not later than eight days from its receipt.
The inspection record and the response of the court's president are then submitted to the president of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia, president of the court at the next higher level and to the State Judicial Council.
 
The president of the inspected court is obligated to remedy the identified irregularities in judicial administration within the time limits set in the inspection record.

He/she must send written notification of the measures undertaken to: president of the court at the next higher level, president of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia, Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, and State Judicial Council.
The functions of a judicial inspector can be performed by persons who meet the requirements for a county court judge, and inspection of individual segments of judicial administration (supervision of financial and material management, functioning of the IT system, exercise of the rights of civil servants and other employees) may be performed by the civil servants of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration who meet the requirements for the position of a senior expert advisor or senior administrative advisor.