CROATIA Country Profile

Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives

  • Legislation: Croatia ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption in 2005, the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention in 2000 and the Civil Law Convention on Corruption in 2003. However, there is no unified definition of corruption in Croatian legislation. In the Criminal Code (1998, amended 2003), corruption-related offences include active and passive bribery, money laundering, illegal mediation, misuse of the office of state authorities, abuse of office and authorities, unfair competition in foreign-trade business operations, bankruptcy abuse, concluding harmful contracts, unauthorised acquisition of official secrets, and disclosing official secrets. The Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering 2004 expands on the Criminal Code to more directly target private sector corruption. Confiscation of the proceeds of crime and corruption is provided for by the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code. The Law Preventing Conflicts of Interest in Public Office requires officials to report certain financial interests for themselves and for close family members and is supported by the Civil Servants Act, which outlines the rights and duties and code of conduct regarding conflicts of interest for government employees and transparency in hiring procedures for public office. Croatia also passed a Law on Responsibility of Legal Entities for Criminal Offences in March 2004. However, only a small fraction of the many cases filed against legal entities have led to convictions. Corruption-related offences accounted for only 0.6% of the total convictions in criminal offences in the period from 1998 to 2004 and conviction rates continue to be low. Important laws on administrative practices, such as laws on giving and receiving gifts and laws governing instances of conflict of interest for public officials, are being implemented, and an administrative code of conduct is being drafted.

  • Government Strategies: The Croatian government's National Anti-Corruption Programme 2006-2008 (NACP) contained an action plan that laid out a number of concrete measures and complimentary proponents to fight corruption. In the area of politics and public administration, the measures pertained to regulating the financing of political parties, prevention of conflict of interest, more objective employment criteria, safeguards against the abuse of power and enabling access to information, for which Croatia laid down the legal framework with the passing of the Act on the Right of Access to Information in 2003. As a long term objective, thorough reforms of the health and judicial systems are considered an efficient way to remove corruption in those sectors. Control of the work of local government and direct elections for local self-government bodies have been combined with a general strengthening of the transparency work of local self-government and the decentralisation process, as key measures for the prevention of corruption at the local level. A novelty in relation to the 2002 NACP was an explicit listing of measures for combating corruption in the private sector. The measures encouraged free market competition and accelerated privatisation in order to prevent arbitrary influence by the state on economic subjects and market competition. The NACP also provided for a special range of oversight measures and increased transparency in public procurement procedures. Measures requiring cooperation with international anti-corruption institutions and a public awareness campaign on the adverse consequences of corruption made up special components of the NACP. In February 2009, the Croatian government launched a new Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan, which introduces Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK, in Croatian) judges, who will cooperate with law enforcement agencies in order to combat corruption, as reported by Vlada Republike Hrvatske. As part of the Anti-Corruption Strategy and Action Plan, a HRK 2.36 million anti-corruption campaign called 'Corruption, this is not me' was launched by the government. In addition, a website (in Croatian) has been set up by the Ministry of Justice, where citizens can find information on how to report corruption cases. This website will publish property cards of all justice officials and all provisions of the Commercial Court.

  • Anti-Corruption Agencies: Croatia has centralised the fight against corruption within one organisation, the Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK, in Croatian), with a broad political mandate to investigate, prosecute and prevent corruption based on its establishing legislation. Police and state prosecutors conduct investigations in the first instance and forward cases to USKOK if they suspect that corruption has occurred. According to the GRECO Evaluation Report on Croatia 2005, the USKOK had up to the time the report was published received about 120 reports of suspected corruption annually. In about half those cases, the USKOK chose to conduct investigations. In early 2007, the USKOK had a permanent staff of 36 people. Since its inception, the organisation has suffered from a number of problems. For example, the USKOK lacked premises in the beginning of its existence, and found it hard to recruit public prosecutors because the financial remuneration for working in this potentially high-risk area was simply too small. Three corruption cases implicating the USKOK itself have also weakened the institution and called into question its ability and commitment to fight corruption.

  • Office of the Ombudsman: The Office of the Ombudsman mainly deals with complaints from the public about maladministration or abuse of power by government authorities and offices. The Ombudsman institution is secured in the constitution (Art. 92) and regulated by the Law on the Ombudsman 1992. The Ombudsman is appointed by the Parliament with a mandate to protect the constitutional and legal rights of citizens in proceedings before the state administration and bodies vested with public authority. In general, the Ombudsman does not take on cases that are subject to legal proceedings. Apart from individual cases, the Ombudsman may also initiate investigations into matters that pertain to constitutional and legal rights raised by the media. The Ombudsman institution is supposedly independent; however, according to the Transparency International Croatia National Integrity System 2007, there have been several attempts to influence the Ombudsman's decisions in cases of human rights violations - attempts that have reduced the credibility of the institution. Moreover, the Ombudsman's proposal that the office's resources should be increased has been ignored for several years now by the government. Annual reports by the Ombudsman have been published on the Ombudsman's website.

  • Auditor General: The State Audit Office (NAO) is authorised through the State Audit Act to oversee how the budget is executed. Its basic task is to audit financial transactions within the public sector. In addition to this, the SAO conducts audits in connection with ownership transformation and privatisation processes in order to make sure that all legal requirements are upheld. In an effort to strengthen itself as an institution and its competencies, the SAO is cooperating with the National Audit Office of the United Kingdom. The aim of this EU-financed project is to bring the Croatian SAO in line with international standards.

  • E-Governance: Information on starting a company in Croatia can be found on the Croatian e-governance website. This web portal is designed as a 'one-stop shop' for companies to deal with government on topics such as taxes, pensions, business registration, etc. The portal became operational in 2005, and significantly reduces the time it takes to conduct standard business operations. As a further service, a free information hotline is maintained. Other useful operational resources for companies in Croatia are the Trade and Investment Promotion Agency and the Croatian Chamber of Economy, which has issued pamphlets and reports on starting a business in the country. The Trade and Investment Promotion Agency is active in advising the government on how to make Croatia's regulatory environment more transparent and competitive. The website of the Croatian Chamber of Economy provides a useful English-language guide, How to Start Up an Enterprise in Croatia, as well as sector-specific and general reports.

  • Public Procurement: Public procurement in Croatia is administered by the Public Procurement Office (English version not as developed as the Croatian) and governed by the Act on Public Procurement 2001, which is largely harmonised with EU public procurement directives. On the Public Procurement Office website, companies will find a list of procurement regulations, tender announcements, forms, contact information for its call centre and other services. Major procurements over USD 3,000 are published in the Official Gazette. Croatia is attempting to develop a public procurement system that adheres to the principles of efficiency, non-discrimination of the tenderer or potential supplier, equality of the tenderer or potential supplier, publicity and transparency. However, article 65 of the act concerning non-disclosure and the review procedures of the State Commission for Supervision of Public Procurement Procedure limit transparency in public procurement and are thus areas for legal improvements. In preparation for Croatia's potential EU membership, the Public Procurement Office is working with a consortium of partners towards aligning Croatian legislation and procedures with the EU public procurement system. In December 2008, an amended procurement law was passed. This law provides for greater transparency with the introduction of electronic auctions, definitions of special procurement procedures and framework agreements, as well as publication of all procurement procedures over USD 14,000.

  • Whistle-Blowing: A 2003 amendment to Croatia's labour legislation led to the development of a consolidated Labour Act 2004 which contains a provision securing whistleblower protection against dismissal for individuals who have reported an instance of corruption in good faith. According to the Civil Service Act 2006, article 4, paragraph 2, the Labour Act also applies to civil servants, thus indirectly providing civil servants with whistleblower protection. The Witness Protection Act 2004 also provides for whistleblower protection, although it is very vaguely formulated. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (in Croatian) has set up an e-mail and telephone service for citizens to report corruption in the public service.

  • General Comments on the Public Anti-Corruption Initiatives: In March 2006, the Croatian Parliament adopted the National Anti-Corruption Programme 2006-2008, realising that corruption was viewed by the EU as an obstacle to Croatian accession. A new Anti-Corruption Strategy has been launched by the government in February 2009. According to Javno, with new laws being passed, all legal preconditions for combating corruption have been secured. The exposure of corruption in the State Privatization Fund and subsequent arrest of the perpetrators also gives an impression that the government is actively engaged in fighting corruption. However, the underlying population's pessimistic outlook concerning levels of corruption remains a major problem, since government anti-corruption initiatives are deemed inadequate by the population.