US embassy cable - 03ZAGREB517

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ZAGREB 000517 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/ACE, EUR/SCE, INL/AAG 
STATE PASS TO USAID, E&E/ADAA FOR PAULA FEENEY AND TO 
E&E/ECA FOR ANNE CONVERY 
DEPT OF JUSTICE FOR ICITAP/OPDAT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, EAID, PHUM, KCOR, KJUS, EAID, PHUM, KCOR, KJUS, HR, HRPGOV, IBRD, EVN 
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL DONORS REACH AGREEMENT WITH GOC 
ON COURT REFORM 
 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 02        ZAGREB  00517  01 OF 02  101514Z 
REF: ZAGREB 465 
 
1. SUMMARY:  INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY DONORS AND THE GOC 
HAVE REACHED AGREEMENT ON A STANDARDIZED COURT AND CASE 
MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE PLATFORM THAT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN 
COURTS COUNTRY-WIDE. THIS NEW SYSTEM WILL IMPROVE MUCH- 
NEEDED JUDICIAL EFFICIENCY AND SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE GOC 
COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PREVIOUSLY SEPARATE DONOR 
INITIATIVES. THE AGREEMENT ALSO DEMONSTRATES THE HIGH 
DEGREE OF COORDINATION AMONG THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY 
DONORS IN CROATIA.  UNDER THE AGREEMENT, USAID WILL 
MERGE THE DESIGN WORK ALREADY COMPLETED UNDER TWO 
SEPARATE PROJECTS INTO A UNIFIED SYSTEM.  SUBSEQUENTLY, 
THE WORLD BANK AND THE EU WILL ROLL OUT THE NEW 
TECHNOLOGY.  END SUMMARY 
 
2. THE NOTORIOUSLY INEFFICIENT CROATIAN JUSTICE SYSTEM 
IS ONE OF THE MAJOR DISINCENTIVES TO INVESTMENT, AND 
LAGGING REFORM IN THE SECTOR IS SEEN AS A SERIOUS 
ROADBLOCK TOWARDS EVENTUAL EU ACCESSION.  SEVERAL DONOR 
PROGRAMS ARE WORKING ON VARIOUS ASPECTS OF THE PROBLEM 
WITH VARYING DEGREES OF SUCCESS.  A MINISTRY OF JUSTICE 
IN DISARRAY AND WITH LITTLE COMMITMENT TO REFORM TAKES 
NO LEADERSHIP ROLE IN THE REFORM PROCESS, AND IN MANY 
CASES SEEMS TO BE WORKING AGAINST IT. 
 
3. MULTI-YEAR CASE BACKLOGS ARE COMMON IN COURTS 
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, AND ESPECIALLY IN THE LARGE 
URBAN COURTS OF ZAGREB, SPLIT, AND RIJEKA.  THE PROBLEM 
IS BOTH LACK OF AUTOMATION (RECORDS OF CASE FILINGS ARE 
KEPT IN MULTIPLE LARGE HANDWRITTEN REGISTRY BOOKS), AND 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 03        ZAGREB  00517  01 OF 02  101514Z 
PROCEDURAL RULES THAT ALLOW FOR ENDLESS DELAYS BY THE 
PARTIES.  THE GOAL OF A USAID PROGRAM BEGUN IN 2001 WAS 
TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT A NEW, MODERN COURT AND CASE 
MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE SYSTEM IN THE MUNICIPAL COURTS OF 
ZAGREB, THE LARGEST GENERAL JURISDICTION COURT SYSTEM IN 
EUROPE.  THE PROJECT ALSO INCLUDED THE PROCUREMENT OF 
NEW HARDWARE AS WELL AS RELATED TRAINING FOR JUDGES AND 
COURT PERSONNEL. 
 
4. SEVERAL MONTHS LATER, A PARALLEL USAID PROJECT WAS 
BEGUN TO DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT A NEW SOFTWARE SYSTEM IN 
THE COMMERCIAL COURTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.  THE USAID 
PROJECT IN THE COMMERCIAL COURTS WAS DESIGNED TO WORK IN 
CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH A WORLD BANK PROJECT FOCUSING 
ON REFORM OF THE BANKRUPTCY PROCESS IN CROATIA.  THE 
AGREEMENT WAS THAT USAID WOULD FORM AND LEAD A WORKING 
GROUP OF COMMERCIAL COURT JUDGES TO PERFORM THE 
NECESSARY STUDY OF ALL THE PROCEDURAL RULES OF THE 
COURTS IN ORDER TO DESIGN THE SOFTWARE.  ONCE THE 
SOFTWARE SPECIFICATIONS WERE COMPLETED, THE $5 MILLION 
WORLD BANK PROJECT WOULD THEN PAY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF 
THE SOFTWARE AS WELL AS NEW IT HARDWARE FOR THE MAJORITY 
OF THE COMMERCIAL COURTS ACROSS CROATIA. 
 
5. AT THE TIME THESE DONOR ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS BEGAN, 
CROATIAN LEGAL EXPERTS AND THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE WERE 
ADAMANT THAT THE PROCEDURAL RULES UNDER WHICH THE 
MUNICIPAL AND COMMERCIAL COURTS OPERATED WERE SO 
DIFFERENT THAT IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO HAVE ONE COMMON 
COURT AND CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.  BUT AS THE USAID AND 
WORLD BANK ADVISORS LED WORKING GROUPS OF MUNICIPAL AND 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 04        ZAGREB  00517  01 OF 02  101514Z 
COMMERCIAL COURT JUDGES IN THE ANALYSIS OF THE RULES AND 
PROCEDURES OF THE COURTS, IT BECAME INCREASINGLY CLEAR 
THAT THERE WAS MORE COMMONALITY THAN DIFFERENCES IN 
THEIR OPERATIONS.  ALTHOUGH THE COST AND EFFICIENCY 
ADVANTAGES OF ONE COMMON COURT AND CASE MANAGEMENT 
SYSTEM FOR VIRTUALLY ALL THE COURTS IN CROATIA WERE 
CLEAR, AND FEASIBILITY OF IMPLEMENTING SUCH A SYSTEM WAS 
BECOMING MORE OBVIOUS, THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE CONTINUED 
TO INSIST ON SEPARATE SYSTEMS. 
 
6. A RECENT VISIT BY THE WORLD BANK TEAM MANAGING THE 
BANKRUPTCY PROJECT TRIGGERED THE FORMATION OF A UNITED 
DONOR POSITION ON THE ISSUE.  THE GROUP'S HAND WAS 
STRENGTHENED BY THE EU'S INTEREST IN INVESTING $7.5 
MILLION IN CARDS FUNDING IN COURT REFORM.  THE EU HAD 
BEEN TRYING WITH LITTLE SUCCESS TO ENGAGE THE MINISTRY 
IN DEVELOPING CONCRETE PLANS FOR THE FUNDS AND, WHEN 
APPROACHED, EU/CARDS STAFF WAS EAGER TO ADD THEIR 
LEVERAGE TO THE USAID AND WORLD BANK EFFORTS. 
 
7. THE DONORS THEN PRESENTED THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
                           UNCLASSIFIED     PTQ8308 
 
PAGE 01        ZAGREB  00517  02 OF 02  101514Z 
ACTION AID-00 
 
INFO  LOG-00   NP-00    AF-00    CIAE-00  INL-00   DODE-00  WHA-00 
      SRPP-00  DS-00    EAP-00   EUR-00   UTED-00  VC-00    TEDE-00 
      INR-00   IO-00    LAB-01   L-00     VCE-00   M-00     NEA-00 
      NSAE-00  PA-00    PER-00   IRM-00   TEST-00  SA-00    DSCC-00 
      PRM-00   DRL-01   NFAT-00  SAS-00   SWCI-00    /002W 
                  ------------------41D475  101515Z /38 
R 101502Z MAR 03 
FM AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 9640 
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 
AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA 
AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO 
USEU BRUSSELS 
USMISSION USOSCE 
DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC 
 
UNCLAS SECTION 02 OF 02 ZAGREB 000517 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/ACE, EUR/SCE, INL/AAG 
STATE PASS TO USAID, E&E/ADAA FOR PAULA FEENEY AND TO 
E&E/ECA FOR ANNE CONVERY 
DEPT OF JUSTICE FOR ICITAP/OPDAT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, EAID, PHUM, KCOR, KJUS, IBRD, EVN, HR 
SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL DONORS REACH AGREEMENT WITH GOC 
ON COURT REFORM 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 02        ZAGREB  00517  02 OF 02  101514Z 
WITH A UNITED POSITION.  ALL OF THE PREPARATORY WORK HAD 
BEEN COMPLETED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF TWO COURT AND CASE 
MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE SYSTEMS, BUT BASED ON THAT WORK IT 
WAS NOW CLEAR THAT THE TWO SYSTEMS HAD MUCH COMMONALITY. 
THE DONORS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT THE SOFTWARE BE 
WRITTEN SO THAT THE BASIC SYSTEM COULD BE USED IN ALL 
COURTS, AND ADDITIONAL MODULES BE WRITTEN TO ACCOMMODATE 
THOSE AREAS OF COURT PROCEDURES (E.G., BANKRUPTCY 
PROCEEDINGS) WHERE PROCESSES DIFFERED.  THE TWO SETS OF 
FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS WRITTEN BY THE USAID 
CONTRACTORS COULD BE RELATIVELY QUICKLY MERGED, THEIR 
AREAS OF COMMONALITY AND DIFFERENCES DEFINED, AND A 
TENDER THEN PREPARED FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT.  THE EU 
SWEETENED THE OFFER WITH THE COMMITMENT TO PUT THEIR 
RESOURCES TOWARDS PAYING FOR SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL 
HARDWARE TO ROLL THE SYSTEM OUT COUNTRY WIDE.  FACED 
WITH THE UNITED DONORS AND THE COMPELLING LOGIC OF THE 
PROPOSAL, THE MOJ AGREED. 
 
8. THE DONORS AND THE MINISTRY ARE IN DISCUSSIONS OVER 
THE FINAL DETAILS OF THE AGREEMENT, BUT USAID HAS 
COMMITTED TO LEAD THE PROCESS OF MERGING THE TWO SETS OF 
SOFTWARE FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS.  THIS WILL TAKE 
SEVERAL MONTHS, AT WHICH POINT USAID WILL HAND OFF THE 
FINAL PRODUCT TO THE WORLD BANK TO TENDER FOR THE 
SOFTWARE.  THE WORLD BANK AND THE EU HOPE TO BEGIN THEIR 
RESPECTIVE PROCUREMENT PROCESSES FOR LARGE QUANTITIES OF 
IT HARDWARE IN THE FOLLOWING MONTHS. 
 
9. THE DECISION TO PROCEED WITH A UNIFIED SYSTEM IS A 
CLEAR WIN/WIN SITUATION.  THE CROATIAN COURTS GET A 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
PAGE 03        ZAGREB  00517  02 OF 02  101514Z 
SINGLE COURT AND CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THAT WILL ALLOW 
COMMUNICATIONS AMONG ALL THE COURTS AND INVOLVE LOWER 
MAINTENANCE COSTS.  THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE AVOIDS 
PAYING FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE MUNICIPAL COURT SOFTWARE 
SYSTEM (ESTIMATED COST $800,000) AND WILL USE WORLD BANK 
LOAN FUNDS TO DEVELOP THE UNIFIED SYSTEM. 
 
10. IN THE PROCESS OF HAMMERING OUT THE DEAL, THE DONOR 
COMMUNITY HAS IMPROVED COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATIONS 
ON JUSTICE SECTOR REFORM, BOTH AMONG THE DONORS AND 
BETWEEN THE DONORS AND THE MINISTRY.  AND FINALLY, TWO 
RELATIVELY NEW AND REFORM-MINDED ASSISTANT MINISTERS IN 
THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE HAVE NOW BECOME MORE ENGAGED THE 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THESE PROJECTS.  THERE IS STILL A LONG 
JOURNEY AHEAD ON THE ROAD TO THE REFORM OF THE CROATIAN 
JUSTICE SECTOR, BUT THIS AGREEMENT REPRESENTS A 
SIGNIFICANT STEP FORWARD ON THAT JOURNEY. 
 
ROSSIN 
 
                       UNCLASSIFIED 
 
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