Originally from Collective Litigation in Europe: Law and Practice
Preview Page
1. NATIONAL LEGISLATION
A. Introduction: General Provisions on Protection of Collective Rights and Interests
Collective actions in Croatia are regulated by several legislative acts. Since 2011, the framework rules providing general provisions on collective litigation have been included in the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP). These provisions came into force on 1 July 2013, when Croatia acceded to the European Union. However, the CCP only supplements the rules on collective actions established in special legislation. Without a specific legal basis, collective action is not available, as the law states that “associations, bodies, institutions, and other organizations legally established to protect collective interests and rights may submit a collective action if such authority is expressly provided in special legislation, under conditions stipulated by such legislation.”
The types of cases indicated in general rules concern “collective interests,” which are defined as “interests related to the environment, as well as moral, ethnic, consumer, anti-discrimination, and other legally guaranteed interests.” However, since environmental legislation does not allow collective actions, consumer and anti-discrimination collective suits remain the only types of collective actions permitted by law.
The claimant in such an action is usually a qualified organization, typically an association (NGO). For this reason, in legal doctrine, these actions are referred to as “associational actions” (udružna tužba), an expression equivalent to the German Verbandsklage.
Prof. Dr. Alan Uzelac is Head of Department for Civil Procedure at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law.
