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Croatia - Second periodic reports of States parties due in 1998: Addendum [2003] UNCRCSPR 30; CRC/C/70/Add.23 (28 November 2003)
UNITED NATIONS
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CRC
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Convention on the Rights of the Child
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Distr. GENERAL
CRC/C/70/Add.23 28 November 2003
Original: ENGLISH
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COMMITTEE ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD
CONSIDERATION OF
REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIES
UNDER ARTICLE 44 OF THE
CONVENTION
Second periodic reports of States parties due in 1998
CROATIA[*]
[30 October 2002]
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
Introduction 1 - 4 5
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION 5 - 58 6
A. Measures taken to harmonize national legislation
with the
provisions of the Convention
(arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6) 5 - 23 6
B. Existing or planned national or local mechanisms for
coordination
of children-related policies and for the
monitoring and promotion of the
Convention 24 - 43 9
C. International cooperation 44 - 58 13
II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD (art. 1) 59 - 72 15
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES 73 - 123 17
A. Non-discrimination (art. 2) 73 - 87 17
B. Best interests of the child and parental care
(arts. 3 and 4) 88 -
97 19
C. Right to life, survival and development (art. 6) 98 - 120 21
D. Respect for the views of the child (art. 12) 121 - 123 24
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS (arts. 7, 8, 13, 17
and 37, para. (a))
124 - 153 26
A. Name and citizenship 124 - 127 26
B. Preservation of the child’s identity (arts. 8 and 20) 128 -
130 27
C. Freedom of expression, thought, conscience and
religion (arts. 13
and 14) 131 - 133 27
D. Freedom of association and of peaceful assembly
(art. 15) 134 -
137 28
E. Protection of privacy (art. 16) 138 - 142 29
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
F. Access to information (art. 17) 143 - 149 30
G. The right of the child not to be subjected to torture
or other
cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment (art. 37, para. (a))
150 - 153 31
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE 154 - 239 31
A. Parental guidance and responsibility
(arts. 5 and 18, paras. 1 and
2) 154 - 164 31
B. Separation from parents and upbringing outside
the child’s
own family (arts. 9 and 20) 165 - 178 33
C. Family reunification (art. 10) 179 - 183 36
D. Illicit transfer and non-return of the child (art. 11) 184 -
190 36
E. Maintenance (art. 27, para. 4) 191 - 193 37
F. Children deprived of their family environment (art. 20) 194 38
G. Adoption (art. 21) 195 - 203 38
H. Periodic review of placement (art. 25) 204 - 215 38
I. Abuse and neglect including physical and psychological
recovery
and social reintegration (arts. 19 and 39) 216 - 240 41
VI. BASIC HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL WELFARE 241 - 288 45
A. Disabled children (art. 23) 241 - 250 45
B. Health, health-care services and nutrition (art. 24) 251 - 268 47
C. Children in armed conflicts, including physical and
mental
recovery and social reintegration
(art. 38, paras. 1 and 4, and art. 39)
269 - 278 49
D. Social security, assistance and facilities
in childcare (arts. 26
and 18, paras. 2 and 3) 279 - 285 51
E. Standard of living (art. 27, paras. 1-3) 286 - 288 53
CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
VII. EDUCATION, LITERACY AND CULTURE 289 - 311 54
A. School education, including practical training and
guidance, and
educational goals (arts. 28 and 29) 289 - 305 54
B. Leisure activities of children (art. 31) 306 - 311 56
VIII. SPECIAL MEASURES FOR THE PROTECTION
OF CHILDREN 312 - 404 57
A. Children in emergency situations 321 - 336 58
1. Refugee children (art. 22) 321 - 330 58
2. Children in armed conflicts (art. 38) 331 - 336 59
B. Protection of children with socially unacceptable
behaviour,
under family and penal law
(arts. 40 and 37, paras. (a)-(d)) 337 -
376 60
C. Children in situations of abuse, including physical
and
psychological recovery and social reintegration
(arts. 32-36 and 39) 377
- 397 68
1. Economic exploitation of children, including
child labour 382
- 384 69
2. Drug abuse (art. 33) 385 - 393 70
3. Sexual exploitation and abuse of children (art. 34) 394 - 397 71
D. Children belonging to a minority (art. 30) 398 - 406 72
IX. CLOSING REMARKS 407 - 409 73
Introduction
- The
Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted in the legal system of the
Republic of Croatia through the Notification of Succession
of 8 October 1991,
and the Convention entered into force for Croatia on 12 October 1992 following
its ratification. The initial
report was submitted in 1993 and supplemented in
1995. The Committee on the Rights of the Child considered these reports on 23
and
24 January 1996 and gave its opinion, as well as proposals and
recommendations. It was proposed that Croatia should submit an interim
report;
however, as the country embarked on a new set of legislative reforms and there
were major changes in practice regarding conformity
with the Committee’s
requirements, we felt that it was more appropriate to provide a new report that
includes a comprehensive
account of changes in legislation and practice relevant
to the rights of the child in Croatia. The initial report, published in
the
magazine Dijete (Child), only partly meets the requirement of article 44,
paragraph 6, of the Convention.
- This
second periodic report has been prepared in accordance with the general
guidelines set by the Committee on the Rights of the
Child for the form and
content of reports that the States parties are committed to presenting under
article 44, paragraph 1 (b),
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The
present report covers the period from 1995 to 31 December 2001.
- Since
the submission of its initial report Croatia has asserted sovereignty over is
entire territory, and current regulations are
binding on all Croatian citizens.
In spite of some specific conditions still prevailing in the areas where for a
period of time
Croatian sovereignty could not be exercised, efforts are being
made to comply with all the obligations arising from the Convention.
- According
to the 2001 census, the population of Croatia is 4,437,460, including
931,927 children, or 0.22 per cent less than in the
1991 census.
Table 1
Population - evaluation and trends
|
Population
|
Children
|
Marriages
|
Live-borns
|
Stillborns
|
Dead infants
|
Children born out of wedlock
|
Contracted
|
Divorced
|
1996
|
4 494 000
|
53 811
|
235
|
433
|
3 834
|
24 596
|
3 812
|
1997
|
4 572 000
|
55 501
|
253
|
457
|
4 024
|
24 517
|
3 899
|
1998
|
4 501 000
|
47 078
|
225
|
388
|
3 820
|
24 243
|
3 962
|
1999
|
4 554 000
|
45 179
|
205
|
350
|
3 714
|
23 778
|
3 721
|
2000
|
4 381 000
|
43 746
|
229
|
324
|
3 927
|
22 017
|
4 419
|
2001
|
4 437 460
|
*
|
*
|
*
|
*
|
*
|
*
|
Source: 2001 Yearbook of Statistics.
* 2001 data not yet published.
According to the statistics, only a small number of children were born
outside health institutions, much less without professional
assistance.
Table 2
Live-born children by place of birth
|
Children born in health institutions
|
Children born outside health institutions but with professional
assistance
|
Children born outside health institutions and without professional
assistance
|
1996
|
53 565
|
147
|
99
|
1997
|
55 332
|
108
|
61
|
1998
|
46 925
|
94
|
49
|
1999
|
45 069
|
66
|
44
|
2000
|
43 660
|
48
|
38
|
Source: 2001 Yearbook of Statistics.
Note: The National Bureau of Statistics has not yet published data
for 2001.
I. GENERAL MEASURES OF IMPLEMENTATION
A. Measures taken to harmonize national legislation with
the
provisions of the Convention (arts. 4, 42 and 44, para. 6)
- The
proposals and recommendations put forward by the Committee on the Rights of the
Child have been taken into consideration to the
effect that as part of
comprehensive legislative reforms in Croatia amendments are being made to remove
any ambiguities, uncertainties
or differences contained in the provisions of
existing legislation in relation to the provisions of the Convention on the
Rights
of the Child.
- When
depositing the instrument of notification of succession Croatia expressed a
reservation to article 9, paragraph 1, of the Convention,
because under domestic
legislation the social welfare centres can decide without a previous court
review to deny a parent the right
to live with his or her child. However,
article 19, paragraph 2, of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia
provides: “Decisions by administrative authorities or authorities with
public powers shall be subject
to a court review of the legality of such
decisions”. Therefore, the Administrative Suit Act allows citizens to
seek court
protection with respect to any decisions passed by administrative
authorities. For that reason, it was decided to accept the Committee’s
suggestion, as well as instruction No. 11 from the Committee’s general
guidelines, that the said reservation be withdrawn.
The decision to withdraw
the reservation to article 9, paragraph 1, of the Convention was passed by the
Government of Croatia on
26 February 1998.
- Passed
during 2000 were the Constitutional Law Amending the Constitutional Law on Human
Rights and Freedoms and the Rights of Ethnic
and National Communities or
Minorities in the Republic of Croatia, the Law on the Use of Language and Script
of National Minorities
in the Republic of Croatia, and the Law on Education in
the Language and Script of National Minorities. By these laws the Republic
of
Croatia has additionally undertaken to respect and protect the rights defined in
these laws and has thereby adopted the United
Nations standards on national
minorities.
- Harmonization
of national legislation with the provisions of the Convention has been carried
out through the passage of a series of
new laws and amendments to the existing
laws and other regulations. In force since 1 July 1999 is the Family Act the
provisions
of which embody all the requirements from the Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
- A
new Family Act is being prepared which, in respect of child protection,
represents a step forward by underlining the child’s
legal individuality
in the family. The basic changes in relation to the existing Family Act are the
following:
(a) Transfer of a part of powers from social welfare
centres (administrative authorities) to the courts wherever vital decisions
about the child are made, for example, which parent the child is going to live
with, determining the schedule of the child’s
meetings with the parent
with whom the child does not live, prohibition to approach the child, etc.;
(b) Transfer of power to impose family protection measures from social
welfare centres to the courts;
(c) Abolition of two types of adoptive parenthood and introduction of only
one type as permanent;
(d) Shortening the deadlines in maternity and paternity disputes.
- Currently
drafted is also the Family Violence Prevention Act which will comprehensively
address this important issue. So far Croatia
has not had a law like this and
regulations dealing with violence in the family are scattered in various
(criminal, misdemeanour,
family-related) laws.
- Reforms,
which are also under way in the area of criminal law, have resulted in
significant improvements in respect of child protection.
In force since 1
January 1998 is the new Criminal Law, amended in 2000 and 2001, the Criminal
Procedure Act (amended in 1999), and
the Juvenile Court Act (amended in February
2002). They contain provisions on child protection, children who have committed
criminal
acts, juvenile courts, penalties against minors, criminal acts
injurious to children, which are described in more detail in the section
of the
report on articles 19 and 39 of the Convention (paras. 147-158), and in the
chapter on children in emergency situations (paras.
220-241, 245-250 and
251-252).
- The
Law Amending the Juvenile Court Act is intended, inter alia, to adapt the
investigation procedure to the child’s mind to
avoid traumatic
consequences. For example, article 119 of this Act provides that a juvenile
court judge or an investigating judge
must deal tactfully with a child or a
minor against whom a criminal act has been committed, with due regard to his/her
age, personal
characteristics, education and living circumstances in order to
avoid possible detrimental effects on his/her upbringing and development.
A
child or a
minor has to be examined with assistance of a pedagogue, a
psychologist or another qualified person. If a child or a young person,
whose
physical integrity is affected by a criminal act (altogether 20 such crimes are
specified, mostly defined as sexual delicts
and crimes against family and
youth), is examined as a witness, such examination may not be carried out more
than twice and must
be conducted in the presence of an assisting psychologist,
pedagogue or another qualified person. The examining magistrate has to
order
video or sound recording of such testimony without the judge and the parties to
the trial being present in the room where the
witness is giving testimony, so
that the parties can ask questions through the investigating judge, a
psychologist, a pedagogue or
another qualified person. Besides, children and
younger people being witnesses affected by a criminal act under article 17 can
be
examined at a place other than the courtroom, in their home or elsewhere or
at a social welfare centre. In examinations during the
main hearing a
transcript of the statement by a witness must always be read or the video and/or
sound recording replayed. Information
obtained by means of video and sound
devices must be destroyed after a lapse of five years following the court
ruling.
- Another
law being enacted is the Juvenile Crime and Misdemeanour Punishment Act.
- The
Social Welfare Act, in force since 1 January 1998, defines new measures and
forms of family protection, especially the protection
of children living in
socially endangered environments and children with special needs. An important
new element compared with the
preceding act is the introduction of the right to
personal disability benefits payable to persons with serious physical or mental
disabilities, or to persons who before the age of 18 suffered permanent changes
in health condition. Given that a physical or mental
handicap requires
additional efforts in everyday life, as well as additional costs, the purpose of
these personal disability benefits
is to ensure that as many such persons as
possible remain in the care of their own families.
- Passed
in 1996 and amended in 1997 is the Maternity Leave Act which in terms of
maternity benefits puts unemployed mothers on a par
with employed mothers.
- The
Children’s Allowance Act (2001) has significantly expanded
children’s rights. The right to children’s allowance
can be
exercised by anybody to whom the child is entrusted for care and rearing:
parent, adopted parent, legal guardian, step-parent,
grandparent, with the only
criterion being the property status of the beneficiary, i.e., his or her
household. Children’s
allowance payments are rising progressively with
the number of children.
- Taxation
laws (196 Income Tax Act, amended in 1996, 1998 and 2000) and bylaws were also
intended to assist families with children
through various forms of tax relief.
Thus no valueadded tax is payable on milk and substitutes for mother’s
milk or baby food
serving as complete or partial substitute for mother’s
milk. Likewise, no valueadded tax is payable on technical, scientific,
artistic, cultural and educational books. The same applies to children’s
books. However, VAT is payable on other children’s
products, such as
outfit, clothes and footwear, at the regular rate of 22 per cent.
- Progress
has also been made in the area of health care where free health care is now
provided for all children up to the age of 18
(instead of 15 as stated in the
earlier report).
- In
force since 1 January 1998 is a new Law on the Protection of Mentally
Handicapped Persons, which defines the principles, criteria
and methods of such
protection. Mentally handicapped persons are entitled to protection from any
type of abuse or degrading treatment
and may not be put at a disadvantage due to
their mental disorders. Psychiatrists and other health workers are obliged to
arrange
treatment of mentally handicapped persons in ways which will to the
least possible degree affect their freedoms and rights or cause
them mental or
bodily stress or hurt their personality and human dignity. Mentally handicapped
children or minors can be subjected
to an examination or treatment only with the
consent of their legal representative, taking into account the child’s
opinion
depending on his or her age and maturity. Psychiatric treatment of such
children is organized and conducted by a responsible public
health
institution.
- Relevant
to the area of the protection of children with special needs is also
the 2000 Domestic Passenger Traffic Privileges Act under
which
children and their parents are entitled to discount for a specified annual
number of travels by railway and ship.
- The
1998 Law on Blind Persons Assisted by Guide Dogs allows the blind to move with
their guide dogs in public places and buildings
as well as means of public
transport and thus exercise their fundamental right to free movement.
- The
currently drafted Asylum Act will contain special provisions on children seeking
asylum. There is a rising number of children
in Croatia who have abandoned
their family and country and who are found stranded without their parents or
legal guardians. For
that reason a programme of special measures is being
prepared for this vulnerable group. This requires close cooperation between
government authorities and NGOs.
- Funds
required for child protection programmes are provided from central and local
government budgets. Each responsible ministry
plans its share in the central
budget according to its real needs and the available national resources. In the
National Action Programme
for Children, launched on 9 October 1998, it is
stipulated that the funds defined in the Programme will be assigned as a special
item in the budget of the respective ministry. The Programme is currently being
revised.
B. Existing or planned national or local mechanisms for
coordination
of childrenrelated policies and for the monitoring and
promotion
of the Convention
- In
its initial report Croatia described the mechanisms ensuring the implementation
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child in
national legislation, so in the
present report only a general account will be given of some of the most
important measures taken
in this respect over the past period.
- In
1994, at the proposal of the Government of Croatia, it was decided to establish
the National Institute for the Protection of Family,
Maternity and Youth, tasked
to encourage, initiate and coordinate legislative and other activities aimed at
protecting the interests
and rights of families, especially children, young
persons and persons with special needs. Emphasis was laid on parenthood to help
parents care for their children’s well-being in the best possible way. As
for the Committee’s proposal that a permanent
and independent policymaking
and monitoring organization be established, in addition to what was said above
we can inform that having
accepted the Committee’s recommendation, the
Government has introduced the duty of Deputy Ombudsman tasked to attend to
children’s
rights. Meanwhile a need was expressed
to
establish the institute of the Ombudsman for Children and a draft bill to
this effect has been prepared, which, once adopted, will
introduce the office of
Ombudsman for Children operating at national and local levels.
- The
National Action Programme for Children in the Republic of Croatia introduced
on 1 October 1998 should address the Committee’s
remark under
12.D (principal subjects of concern). For more efficient implementation of this
Programme, the Council for Children
was formed on 9 October 1998, composed
at the time of 35 members divided into three groups, each covering a
specific area of work.
As this method of work proved to be inadequately
efficient, on 17 October 2000 the Government modified its
decision on the Council’s
membership and 19 members of the
Council were appointed instead: 7 from relevant ministries and government
agencies, 6 Members of
Parliament, 3 from scientific institutions
and 3 from the media. A need was immediately felt for cooperation of
NGOs, so steps have
been taken to include NGO representatives.
- The
Council for Children is tasked to continuously monitor the implementation of the
National Action Programme for Children, and to
coordinate the work of all
parties involved in the planned measures and activities. The Council monitors
the implementation of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and other
international agreements and acts related to children, promotes the rights of
the
child, discusses draft laws and other regulations related to the rights of
the child, proposes to the Government and relevant ministries
amendments to the
laws or drafting of new regulations, proposes measures for improvement of the
professional work of bodies whose
competencies include affairs related to the
protection of children and the exercise of their rights, proposes to the
Government and
other competent authorities the financing of programmes important
to children from the State budget and other sources, and follows
up
national programmes for children in other countries for comparison and
improvement at home.
- Since
October 2000 the Council for Children has been operating through four working
groups. The duty of the first working group is
to revise the National Action
Programme for Children, the second is following up children-related regulations,
the third is in charge
of ethical issues and media presentation, and the fourth
cooperates with local selfgovernment units.
- The
Council’s sessions are held at regular intervals to analyse the current
situation and to propose priorities and guidelines
for further work. The
Council reports to the Government at least twice a year. The Council’s
representatives are actively
participating in various national activities of
interest to children (such as giving their opinions about existing and proposed
regulations)
and the role of the Council is gaining in importance and
efficiency. Coordinating and administrative work for the Council is carried
out
by the National Institute for the Protection of the Family, Maternity and Youth.
In 2001 it was noticed, however, that the Council’s
proposals put forward
to relevant ministries in respect of required modifications of certain
childrenrelated regulations are ignored
at these ministries at the stage
preceding a legislative procedure. This has caused a certain delay in the
Council’s work
at that level.
- Regarding
children with special needs, it should be noted that in 1999 the National
Programme for the Improvement of the Quality of
Life of Persons with
Disabilities included children for the most part. The Programme is designed to
raise the quality of life of
such persons in all areas of social life. In fact,
this means ensuring the principle of equal opportunities, based on The Standard
Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities adopted
back in 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly
(resolution 48/96).
The Programme defines guidelines for any further action in this area.
- The
war in Croatia ended in 1995, but the Croatian Government Office for Refugees
and Displaced Persons still operates and attends
to the need of this category of
population, including refugee children.
- In
December 1997 the Government decided to set up the Commission for the Prevention
of Disorders in Child and Juvenile Behaviour and
the Protection of Children with
Such Disorders. The Commission’s duties are:
(a) To analyse
the extent of various manifestations of behavioural disorders, including the
risk factors involved in such manifestations;
(b) To follow up current legislation, give expert opinions and proposals for
amendments to and passage of legislative, implementing
and other regulations
relevant to the wellbeing of children and young people;
(c) To monitor the state of care for children and young people exposed to
risk environments, as well as children and young people
with behavioural
disorders, especially at the local level;
(d) To propose improvements in protective measures;
(e) To encourage preventive activities at the national and local levels,
with emphasis on evaluation and supervision as a prerequisite
for programme
implementation.
- Technical
and administrative work for the Council is carried out by the National Institute
for the Protection of the Family, Maternity
and Youth.
- The
respective ministries dealing with the specific problems of children within
their scope have also set up their internal commissions
with members recruited
from among prominent scientists, experts and officers engaged in work related to
the rights of the child.
For example, the Ministry of Justice, Administration
and Local Selfgovernment has set up a commission to follow up and improve the
work of judicial bodies in criminal proceedings.
- In
the past the relevant ministries (the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Labour
and Social Welfare, the Ministry of Education
and Sports, the Ministry of
Justice, Administration and Local Selfgovernment and the Ministry of the
Interior) had organized a series
of consultations and additional seminars on the
subject (to be described below in more
detail).
- The
Government has established its Office for Detained and Missing Persons which
collects data on children victims of the war.
- In
1994 the Government set up the Commission for the Prevention of Drug Abuse which
has prepared the National Strategy for the Prevention
of Drug Abuse. This was
followed by the Drug Abuse Prevention Act passed in November 2001.
- The
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Zagreb Faculty of Law jointly
launched a project in 2001, entitled “Application
of family law measures
to ensure the wellbeing of children and adoption without parental consent -
practical experience”.
The project is still under way.
- The
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, with financial assistance from the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has printed
a brochure
“Children Above All”, together with the text of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child. The brochure has
been distributed to all social
welfare institutions, the Ministry of Education and Sports and relevant
NGOs.
- To
publicize the Convention the Ministry of Education and Sports has printed the
text of the Convention and distributed it to its
institutions (kindergartens and
primary and secondary schools).
- The
NGO for Social Policy Initiatives has printed the text of the Convention with
illustrations suitable for children and distributed
it to other NGOs and persons
attending seminars being organized by this NGO for promoting the rights of the
child. The NGO for Social
Policy Initiatives has established the Centre on the
Rights of the Child.
- UNICEF,
in cooperation with the Ministry of Croatian War Veterans, has printed posters
promoting the rights of the child for nationwide
distribution. The media are
also engaged in promoting the child’s rights in ways suited to adults and
children alike. Actions
aimed at raising public (especially professional)
awareness of the rights of the child have also reached university degree and
postdegree
curricula at various university colleges (of law, arts, education and
rehabilitation, among others).
- UNICEF
Office for Croatia has initiated and financially supported the 1997 project
“Promotion of Children’s Rights”,
approved and actively
supported by the Ministry of Education and Sports. The long-term goal of this
project is to improve human
relations in the schools, whereas the short-term
programmes are designed to provide primary school teacher training courses on
the
rights of the child. A result of the work on the project in 2002 is a
wellillustrated textbook intended for primary schoolteachers,
entitled “We
Know Our Rights” (228 pages). The textbook is equally useful to
all persons professionally engaged in the
work with children. The first part of
the book deals with children’s rights, socializing in the school and abuse
of children’s
rights; the second encourages understanding and active
participation of children in the assertion of their rights under the Convention.
The textbook contains the text of the Convention.
C. International cooperation
- The
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale
of children, child prostitution and child pornography was
ratified on 13 May
2002. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the
involvement of children in armed
conflict was signed in May 2002 and is expected
to be ratified in a matter of months.
- In
addition to the conventions mentioned in the previous report, in 1993 Croatia
became a party to the United Nations Convention on
Recovery of Alimony from
Abroad of 1956, and signed the European Convention on the Exercise of
Children’s Rights, currently
at the ratification stage.
- In
April 2002 the Croatian Parliament adopted the Law Ratifying the Optional
Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child
on the sale of children,
child prostitution and child pornography and the Optional Protocol to the
Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the involvement of children in armed
conflict.
- Currently
being considered is Croatia’s accession to the European Convention on
Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning
Custody of Children and on
Restoration of Custody of Children (ETS No. 105).
- The
ILO Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the
Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (No. 182)
was ratified in July
2001.
- On
11 October 1997 Croatia ratified the Council of Europe’s Framework
Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (ETS
No. 157), and on 5
November 1997 the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ETS No.
148), which also covers a significant
range of children’s rights.
- Signed
on 8 March 1999 was the European Social Charter and currently being considered
for ratification is the compatibility of Croatian
legislation with the
Charter.
- The
number of bilateral agreements in the area of civil and criminal law with
certain countries, notably the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
and Bosnia and
Herzegovina, has been rising.
- By
virtue of relevant international conventions Croatia has established practical
cooperation with other States parties to the conventions.
For example, about 20
cases are handled annually under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of
International Child Abduction,
and more than 100 cases under the Convention on
Recovery of Alimony from Abroad. Annual statistics on the civil aspects of
international
child abduction are forwarded by the Ministry of Labour and Social
Welfare to the Secretariat of the Conference on Private International
Law in the
Hague.
- In
matters involving legal protection of children cooperation is maintained, in
addition to central bodies, with international organizations,
especially UNICEF
and the International Social Service.
- UNICEF
has been active in Croatia since October 1991 and cooperation is based on the
Basic Agreement concluded between the Government
of Croatia and UNICEF signed in
December 1993. UNICEF is financing its programmes with the support of the
Croatian Government and
their cooperation is facilitated by the Steering
Committee composed of representatives of institutions responsible for programme
implementation, presided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Department for
Economic Bilateral and Multilateral Relations). Thanks
to this cooperation,
coordinated and monitored through the Committee of Ministries and the offices of
the Croatian Government and
UNICEF, are a series of programmes and projects that
have been implemented in the following areas:
(a) Health.
Improved quality of primary health care, training, provision of medicines and
medical equipment, promotion of breastfeeding through
the “Hospital -
Children’s Friend” programme, amendments to the Salt Iodination
Act;
(b) Education. Improved equipment of primary schools, landmine
protection programme, drug abuse, environmental protection, peace and human
rights,
peaceful resolution of conflicts in the school, learning democracy,
ecoschool, ecological education, assistance to children and teachers
in
reintegrated areas, inclusion of Romany children in the educational system of
Croatia, teaching children to cooperate and work
in humanitarian
organizations;
(c) Social welfare. Professional training programmes for social
workers in the field of trauma psychology, protection of children living in
difficult
conditions, especially those from waraffected areas, programmes of
prevention, aid and improved work with children and juveniles
with behavioural
disorders, as well as with maltreated and neglected children, young drug addicts
and children with special needs,
forming teams for crisis intervention in the
event of accident or sudden loss, improving the quality of life of children in
social
welfare homes, popularization of host families, assistance to children
and families in the process of return, reconstruction and
social reintegration,
planning of activities to assist children from the areas of Knin, Benkovac,
Obrovac and Drniš, training
programmes for social workers operating in the
Croatian Danube region, project for prevention of professional stress and
programme
of assistance in drafting and carrying out the National Action
Programme for Children and the implementation of the Convention on
the Rights of
the Child in Croatia. These programmes have been carried out within the
programme sectors “Children in dire
need” and “Advocating the
rights of the child and social mobilization by 1998”. Professional
workers engaged in
the social welfare system have benefited a great deal from
these seminars or projects by acquiring knowledge and skills and getting
support, especially through various manuals, brochures and promotional material
made available to professionals for their practical
work.
- Most
of the above-mentioned projects have been carried out through cooperation with
more government departments and local communities,
depending on the topic.
- The
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare is financing the project
“Application of family law measures for the well-being of
children
and adoption without parental consent practical experiences”,
conducted by the Zagreb Faculty of Law, Department
of Family Law.
- A
representative of the Government of Croatia and a UNICEF special envoy signed
the Operative Plan of the Croatian Government and
UNICEF for 1999 and 2000,
whose target groups are women and children affected by the consequences of war,
exile, economic recession,
devastation and insecurity. The programme consists
of three parts: promotion of children’s rights, education for the
child’s
development and participation, and promotion of a healthy life.
The Operative Plan is continuing and includes a resumption of the
already
started projects with more active involvement of governmental and
nongovernmental organizations.
- The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organizing semi-annual meetings with UNICEF with
the participation of other ministries and authorities.
At a meeting held
in July 2000 a need was stressed for establishing a Centre on the
Rights of the Child in the Republic of Croatia,
and for enhanced cooperation in
the region for the protection of children from drug abuse, trafficking and
sexual exploitation.
II. DEFINITION OF THE CHILD (art. 1)
- In
the Croatian legal system the status of a child lasts until the eighteenth year
of age and thereafter a person attains majority
and acquires legal capacity,
that is to say under the provisions of the Family Act the right of
representation by legal representatives
(parent, adopted parent, guardian) is
terminated, except in cases involving a person deprived of legal capacity. In
exceptional
cases legal capacity can be acquired after the age of 16 if with
court approval a person gets married before reaching majority.
- In
the initial report the Committee was informed in detail in respect of
article 1 of the Convention, so only new legal provisions
will be
discussed herein.
- A
novelty in the Croatian legislation (since 1998) is that a minor who has
completed 16 years of age and became a parent can acquire
legal
capacity, subject to court approval. While it is preferred that children enjoy
their childhood until they complete 18 years
of age, the introduction
of that new provision is justified on the grounds that it protects parenthood
and allows under-age parents
to adequately represent the interests of their
child.
- In
considering the application of an under-age parent for the recognition of legal
capacity, the court will assess his or her mental
maturity, consult his or her
parents and seek the opinion of the social welfare
centre.
- At
the time of the initial report the Marriage and Family Relations Act was in
force. Although this Act, judging by comparable legal
provisions in some other
countries, was quite advanced in many respects, it was still based on the
prerogatives and duties vested
in parents, not on both the child’s rights
and the parent’s responsibilities. In accordance with the Convention on
the
Rights of the Child, the basic principle underlying the new Family Act is
the rights of the child, followed by a provision according
to which parents bear
primary responsibility for ensuring their child’s rights. Another
principle is that parents should jointly
and consensually care for their child
whether they live together or separately, unless otherwise decided by the
competent authorities
in the interest of the child. The new Act underlines the
legal personality of the child, a matter which will be discussed below
in more
detail.
- As
already mentioned above, in force since 1 January 1998 are the new
Criminal Law (amended in 2000 and 2001), the Criminal Procedure
Act
(amended in 1999), the Juvenile Court Act, and the 1999 Prison
Sentence Act (amended in 2000 and 2001).
- According
to the 1997 Law on the Protection of Persons with Mental Disorders (amended
in 1999), a child with mental disorders who
can understand the nature,
consequences and risks of a proposed medical treatment and is thus capable of
making his or her own
decision cannot be examined or subjected to medical
treatment without his or her written consent. Any compulsory detention or
placement
of children with mental disorders without their consent is subject to
a court review (Law on the Protection of Persons with Mental
Disorders, art.
10).
- Under
the Criminal Law there is no question of criminal liability of a child offender
who at the time when the criminal act was committed
had not yet completed 14
years of age (art. 10). Instead, protective measures under the Family Act
are applicable to such a child.
- The
Criminal Procedure Act stipulates that a child - an injured party - who has
completed 16 years of age is authorized to make independent
statements and
take legal actions (art. 59).
- A
child can be remanded in custody only if over 14 years of age (the Juvenile
Court Act, art. 73). A juvenile prison sentence can be ruled as
ultima ratio only if the
perpetrator has completed 16 years of
age at the time when the criminal act was committed (ibid., art. 23).
- The
Catering Act prohibits the serving of alcoholic drinks to a guest under 18
(art. 11). The 1999 Law on Limited Use of Tobacco
Products prohibits
the sale of cigarettes to persons under 18 and requires that a warning to
this effect be visibly displayed and
noticeable from a distance
of 10 metres. In practice, however, this ban is widely disregarded.
Health inspectors should be more
active in enforcing this prohibition, which at
present is not the case.
- Since
1 January 2000 it is prohibited to sell tobacco products from cigarette slot
machines. The same Act prohibits smoking in restaurants,
confectioneries and
milk bars, according to a categorization of catering facilities accessible to
children.
- In
our initial report we mentioned that there were no regulations in Croatia which
would protect children from buying and consuming
literature detrimental to their
growth and development, but now we are glad to inform the Committee that
progress in this direction
has been made in the Criminal Law, article 197 of
which provides:
“(1) Whoever sells, gives, displays, makes
publicly available to a child printed materials, photographs or pornographic
videos
shall be liable to a fine or a prison sentence of up to one year.
“(2) Articles and items referred to in paragraph 1 of this
article shall be seized.”
Besides, the Public Information Act, passed in October 1996, prohibits the
promotion and public display of books with pornographic titles (not applicable
to specialized
bookshops).
- The
Family Act prohibits night outings of children under 16 who are unaccompanied
by their parent or an adult trusted by the child’s
parents. A night
outing is considered from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
III. GENERAL PRINCIPLES
A. Non-discrimination (art. 2)
- With
regard to the deep concern expressed by the Committee about the disregard of
court rulings, it can be said that the enforcement
of court rulings is
elaborated upon in more detail in the new Family Act where stricter sanctions
are envisaged for parents and other
persons who disregard decisions by judicial
and administrative authorities; heavier penalties are also envisaged under the
criminal
legislation. While this has changed the situation for the better,
there are still quite a lot of cases of evasion, and recourse
to criminal
proceedings is not frequent enough.
- Another
concern of the Committee is that members of minority groups, especially Serbs
and Muslims, continue to be harassed and that
the culprits are getting away with
it. The Committee also warns against the detrimental effects on society as a
whole and on children
witnessing such unpunished acts.
- Under
the provisions of article 26 of the Constitution, all citizens of the Republic
of Croatia are equal before the courts and other authorities. Every reported
criminal act is investigated
and prosecuted, irrespective of the victim’s
or the perpetrator’s nationality or religion.
- We
can also say that the family and criminal law protection of children, neglected
or abused by their parents, is practised equitably,
irrespective of the
child’s ethnic origin, religion, citizenship or other background. This
approach was adopted even during
the war, which is not to say that there were no
isolated cases of uneven, though remediable, justice, owing to the Croatian
threeinstance
judiciary system.
- The
Croatian Constitution and laws guarantee equal rights and freedoms to all,
irrespective of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other
opinion,
national, ethnic or social origin, property, birth, education or other
considerations. All are equal before the law (article 14
of the Constitution),
a principle applying equally to children in Croatia. The Constitution provides
for compulsory primary school education, but in practice not all children are
integrated into the regular school system,
although parents who neglect their
children in this respect are liable to punishment. Special assistance is
extended to teachers
and schoolchildren in the reintegrated territories through
various training programmes. The social welfare services are conducting
continuous educational programmes aimed at upgrading the qualifications and
efficiency of social workers, especially in their work
with families and
children exposed to the problems involved in the process of the return of
refugees and reconstruction of their
local communities in areas where Croatian
sovereignty has been restored.
- Children
enjoy free health care, accessible to every child. They are exempted from
participation in medical costs, otherwise mandatory
for adults covered by the
health insurance scheme.
- Special
care is taken of women and girls and the National Policy for the Promotion of
Gender Equality has been launched. Eight-year
primary school is mandatory for
both girls and boys, with courses to be conducted under the same conditions,
which makes the Croatian
educational system one of the most advanced in the
world. No distinction is made between girls and boys when it comes to
enrolments
in secondary schools and they can choose their future occupations
under equal conditions. Grammar schools are attended by girls
and boys in equal
numbers, with boys tending to choose tougher occupations, whereas healthcare
courses are attended by girls in greater
numbers.
- The
Constitution and the Constitutional Law on Human Rights and the Rights and
Freedoms of Ethnic and National Communities or Minorities in the Republic
of
Croatia provide a legal basis for education of children belonging to national
minorities, with their culture, language and religion
being taken into account.
Pre-school education in the native language is provided for Italian, Czech,
Hungarian, Serb (including
religious instruction), Austrian and German
minorities. Secondary school courses in the native language, history and
culture are
organized for the Slovak minority. The children of the Ruthenian
and Ukrainian minorities can attend schools with instruction in
their native
language. Jewish children in pre-schools receive general and religious
instruction within the Jewish community.
- Three
years ago the Office for National Minorities launched a special programme
intended to integrate into the regular school system
those Romany children whose
parents did not send them to school. Measures under this programme included
both the pre-school education
of Romany children and the creation of conditions
for regular school attendance. The programme resulted, inter alia, in the
introduction
of running water in a Romany township, as well as electricity and
infrastructure in this and other such settlements, co-financed
in equal portions
from the State budget and the budgets of the respective counties. The
construction of a Romany kindergarten was
also co-financed. Since 2000 the
programme has been continued by financing the upgrading of Romany townships in
four counties.
Funds are earmarked for reconstruction of a Romany settlement in
the City of Zagreb.
- The
Office for National Minorities has financed a number of training seminars for
the Romany social workers associated with welfare
centres, including two
seminars for auxiliary primary schoolteachers organized by the Ministry of
Education and Sports.
- A
total of 37,500 euros has been allocated for the development of a Romany
settlement in Varaždin where 250 children live. For
that settlement the
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare has provided a caravan to serve as nursery
and school for small Romany
children.
- The
Office for National Minorities, together with the competent authorities
and
17 registered Romany organizations, has initiated the preparation of a national
programme for the Romany comprising a system of
measures to address the problems
of the Romany communities, especially children. The programme would include
refurbishing of Romany
settlements, employment, school education for Romany
children (integration into the regular school system, education in the native
language, scholarships, acquaintance with Romany traditions, culture and
customs), health care and professional training. The programme
would require
some amendments to current regulations. Special attention will be paid to an
efficient protection of Romany children
within the Criminal Law and Family Act,
and to the preservation of the specific Romany culture and tradition.
- The
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare is in charge of the Programme for the
Training of Romany Mediators in Providing Assistance
to Romany Parents to be
implemented within the Programme of Integration of Romany Children into the
Croatian Educational System.
This Programme, begun in 1998, is intended to help
Romany parents to raise the quality of life of their children.
- Important
educational events at the local level include a panel discussion on the Romany
problems organized in January 2001 by the
Zagreb City Office for Labour, Health
and Social Welfare. Emphasis was laid on the housing problems of the Romany in
Zagreb, neglect
and abuse of Romany children (begging, depriving them of the
right to go to school), as well as their inadequate social status.
- Article
34 of the Aliens Act requires that the child of an alien granted a refugee
status should enjoy the same right as his or her
parent. Once the child
completes 18 years of age, his or her earlier refugee status is replaced by the
status of an alien on prolonged
stay.
B. Best interests of the child and parental care (arts. 3 and
4)
- The
best interest of the child as a legal standard has been meanwhile highlighted
and expanded in the new Croatian legislation, especially
the Family Act, and is
present as a legal standard in all court and administrative proceedings where
the child’s wellbeing
is at stake. It is thus a powerful corrective to
the institute of parental care, in that the child’s rights are given
greater
importance in terms of both legal and natural considerations than that
attached to the parents. According to the Family Act, parental
care comprises
the protection of the child’s personal and property interests, as well as
the responsibility of the parents
for the child’s wellbeing.
- The
child’s interest is respected in deciding which parent the child will live
with, if the child’s parents do not live
in the same household, and in
deciding whether the child will be placed in the custody of another person or
institution. In practice,
problems are encountered in the length of procedures
conducted before the court or a social welfare centre.
- An
agreement between the parents as to whom the child will live with is accepted
only if found to be in the child’s best interest.
The same applies to an
agreement made by parents at a welfare centre about the child’s rearing.
In that case the centre is
officially responsible for ensuring that the
agreement is not detrimental to the child’s interest.
- The
child’s interest is also taken into account in determining the times and
ways of the child’s contacts with the parent
he or she is not living with,
to the effect that such meetings may be denied if the child’s health,
physical and mental development
and other interests so require. The parent who
is not living with the child may be prohibited from approaching the child and
from
embarrassing him or her. Such a prohibition can be enforced even where
meetings with the child have been formally arranged, but
the parent repeatedly
disturbs the child outside the agreed schedule.
- A
social welfare centre is authorized to take measures in order to protect the
child’s personal and property rights and interests,
if these are found to
be endangered.
- The
criterion for approving an underage marriage is the interest of a minor wishing
to get married. In practice, however, there are
cases where, due to prejudices
prevailing in a community regarding the pregnancy of a minor girl as the reason
for entering into
an underage marriage, the principle of the child’s best
interests is not respected.
- The
child’s best interest is respected in adoption procedures, so that no
adoption is approved unless it is in the child’s
interest. This principle
is largely heeded in practice.
- With
regard to the Committee’s concern about the impact of economic woes caused
by the transition to a market economy, especially
the privatization of some
social welfare services, which may affect the most vulnerable groups of children
and influence the implementation
of measures envisaged in article 4 of the
Convention, we can report that in the current legislative reforms in Croatia
special importance
is attached to the protection of children as the most
vulnerable group. Indeed, a high degree of harmonization has been achieved
with
the provisions of international conventions, especially the Convention on the
Rights of the Child.
- Since
1 January 1998 a new Social Welfare Act is in force, which defines social
welfare as an activity of special national interest,
one which provides
assistance to meet the basic needs of socially vulnerable, helpless and other
persons who by themselves or with
the help of their families cannot meet such
needs due to adverse personal, economic, social or other circumstances. This
Act stipulates
that support is to be given to the families, especially children
and other helpless persons who are unable to take care of themselves.
The Act
also allows adequately qualified individuals to independently engage in
rendering social welfare services in the area of
counselling, aid and care.
- Under
the Family Act, bearing in mind the child’s interest and depending on its
age and maturity, parents have the right and
duty to control the child’s
socializing with other persons. Thus they have the right and duty to prohibit
their children who
are under 16 if not escorted by them or an adult they trust
from going out at night. We believe that this provision does not contravene
article 15 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Of course, this
requires a proper timing of events intended for children
of this age (concerts,
sports activities, disco clubs, etc.). A great help in the enforcement of
this provision is given by the
police. The way of treating children in such
cases is agreed between the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the
Ministry
of the Interior. The primary purpose of the said regulation is to
ensure the child’s right to adequate and healthy development.
To this
end, contacts are established with parents in case of noticed shortcomings in
rearing the child and professional assistance
is extended to them, or preventive
measures taken to protect the child’s rights.
C. Right to life, survival and development (art. 6)
- In
1996 there were 53,811 live-born children and 8 infants died per 1,000
liveborns, in 1997 55,501 live-born children and 8.2 infants
died per
1,000 live-borns, in 1998 47,068 liveborn children and 8.2 infants died per
1,000 liveborns, in 1999 45,179 liveborn children
and 7.7 infants died per 1,000
liveborns, in 2000 43,745 liveborn children
and 7.4 infants died per 1,000
liveborns. Data for 2001 are not yet available.
- The
Family Act contains provisions on the child’s right to health and life.
The parents’ duty is to care for their child’s
life and health and
to enable him or her to use available facilities for the promotion, preservation
and restoration of health, in
accordance with current healthcare regulations and
standards set by medical science. Parents have to protect their child from
humiliating
treatment and corporal punishment by other persons. The law
prohibits parents from leaving their child at the pre-school age alone
or
without control of an adult. The purpose of this provision is to prevent
accidental harm to the child.
- In
case of inadequate parental care the Family Act provides for preventive
measures, including those limiting or excluding parental
care. For example, a
parent who has failed to take the child to a doctor will be warned and in case
of repeated omissions of this
kind, supervision of parental care will be
imposed. If a risk is posed to the child’s life and health requiring
medical intervention
which parents refuse to approve (e.g., for reasons of
religious conviction or prejudices), the responsible social welfare centre
will
designate a guardian for the specific case who will give consent instead of the
parents.
- Under
the Family Act, the primary responsibility for the proper development and
education of the child lies with the parents, i.e.,
the child’s
family.
- The
intention of both Croatian legislation and government policies is to create
conditions for the family (parents above all), such
as jobs, housing, social
support, which will constitute a favourable environment for the rearing of
children.
- Next
to incurable diseases the most frequent cause of death among children is traffic
accidents. For that reason the traffic police
have been conducting a campaign
called “Mind Our Signs”, primarily intended for schoolchildren who
for the first time
come to face the traffic on their own, and particularly
intensified at the beginning of a new school year. The action includes special
traffic signs and controls within the zones of kindergartens and schools to warn
the drivers of the presence of children, plus age-suited
lectures instructing
children in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools how to behave in
traffic situations. In order to familiarize
children with traffic regulations
and teach them what to do in the traffic, the traffic police, in
- cooperation
with the Croatian Automobile Club, are organizing “Safety in
Traffic” competitions in all counties. Schoolchildren
over 9 years of age
are taught how to ride a bicycle independently and if they complete the courses
successfully, they are granted
a certificate allowing them to ride bicycles in
the street traffic.
- Following
are annual statistics on traffic accidents involving children (under
18):
1996: 3,025 children injured, 81 died;
1997: 2,818 children injured, 69 died;
1998: 3,040 children injured, 70 died;
1999: 3,142 children injured, 44 died;
2000: 1,774 children injured, 26 died;
2001: 3,450 children injured (of whom 1,877 under 14), 57 died.
- Ever
since the war began and until it ended the civil defence services have been
intensively engaged in protecting children from hidden
landmines. In
kindergartens and schools lectures are given to children on mine dangers and
printed and graphic materials distributed,
with special emphasis on the
war-affected areas. During and after the war 74 children in Croatia have lost
their lives from anti-personnel
landmines, 1.8 million of which were planted on
11 per cent of Croatia’s territory.
- The
Ministry of the Interior, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and
Sports and the UNICEF Office for Croatia, held a
conference (Dubrovnik, March
1995) on the protection of children from hidden mines and weapons and defined a
strategy to this effect
to be implemented by 2005. The Ministry of Education
and Sports and “Andrija Štampar” School published an
“Educational
package for the protection of children from mines”
which was distributed to preschool and school institutions.
- The
civil defence officers give lectures to primary schoolchildren on the risks from
hidden military materiel. The Croatian Red Cross
also participated in anti-mine
campaigns.
- Television
and radio spots were broadcast by national and local stations, warning of the
risks from mines and unexploded ammunition.
- The
civil defence service took part in the International Exhibition of Interprotex
Safety Equipment and the International Children’s
Fair by visually
displaying to children the dangers of hidden mines and ammunition and
distributing promotional and educational material.
The civil defence service
takes part in mine-clearing operations, as well as inspection of the companies
engaged in such operations,
and informs and educates the public on mine risks,
in accordance with the 1998 Demining Act and the Government’s relevant
decree.
Since 1998 the Croatian Demining Centre is in charge of all matters
relating to the protection of children from the remaining war
material.
- As
drug addicts are a very discreet group, it is not easy to give their exact
number. Research studies in Croatia have shown that
about 5 per cent of urban
adolescents manifest signs of serious social dysfunction caused by drug abuse.
It has also been found
that about 45 per cent of young people have
experimented with one drug or another until they have attained majority. Based
on the
number of persons appearing for the first time for drug treatment (about
1,000 new heroin addicts a year), the number of fatalities
due to overdose (50 a
year) and some other indicators, unless preventive measures are urgently
improved, Croatia will soon reach
the level of the problem being faced by
the richest countries of Western Europe. At
present, the rate of drug
addiction in Croatia stands at 3.1 per 1,000. As at the end
of 2000 Croatia
had an estimated 15,000 drug addicts, including at
least 13,000 heroin addicts, plus 40,000-50,000 occasional consumers
of narcotic drugs. Due to inadequate treatment facilities, it is estimated that
more than 50 per cent of addicts, or about 8,000,
are not included in any
anti-drug treatment and are roaming the streets in a daily search for
drugs.
- The
main national system for care of this population is a network of county centres
for outpatient addition therapy, so far attended
by 11,000 addicts (including
6,500 heroin addicts).
- The
capacities of only two available hospital treatment departments, located in
Zagreb, are absolutely insufficient to cope with the
existing needs. Other
psychiatric clinics take on only a negligible number of addicts, because they
cannot even carry out detoxification
successfully, let alone keep and cure such
patients. Without hospital intervention, heroin addicts cannot be detoxified
within the
outpatient or family treatment. That is why such addicts either
become recidivists or subsist on methadone.
- Therapeutic
communities (“communes”) have offered the only solutions for many
drug addicts, but more than 70 per cent
of them find such programmes too
long and too demanding. In Croatia there are seven such communes sponsored by
foreign NGOs, which
accommodate 272 inmates.
- In
the National Strategy for Drug Abuse Prevention, passed by the Croatian
Parliament, preventive programmes for schools occupy a
key place in primary
prevention actions (addressing the still healthy, not yet affected population).
Secondary prevention programmes
include measures for early identification of
affected persons as a prerequisite for timely intervention. Such preventive
programme
for schools greatly contribute to the overall efforts by the community
to reduce demand for narcotic drugs. Such programmes are
conceived and carried
out by the school staff. Schools are given a chance to get access to the
resources of local communities and
the know-how of external experts, especially
in cases involving direct educational work with parents or teacher training
courses.
- No
government agency in Croatia is specifically responsible for the prevention of
suicides among children, nor are there any programmes
in this respect being
conducted by any governmental or non-governmental organization.
- The
Criminal Law provides for a prison sentence from six months to five years for a
person who induces or helps a child to commit
suicide (complicity in suicide),
or a minimum of five years for a person who directly induces and helps a child
to commit suicide
(considered as a murder).
Table 3
Suicides committed by children and young
people
|
Number of suicides
|
Total
|
Up to 9 years of age
|
10-19 years of age
|
1996
|
52
|
-
|
52
|
1997
|
38
|
-
|
38
|
1998
|
39
|
-
|
39
|
1999
|
48
|
-
|
48
|
2000
|
28
|
-
|
28
|
Source: 2001 Yearbook of Statistics.
- However,
the above total number of suicides among children is not correct, because the
National Bureau of Statistics wrongly provides
data for population up to 19 (not
18) years of age. An objection in this respect will be sent to the Bureau.
- As
no suicide data have been released for 2001, we can use official data given by
the Ministry of the Interior, according to which
50 suicides among children were
registered in 2001, of which 28 children under 14, and 22 children aged between
14 and 18.
- Under
the new Criminal Law, killing a child is an act of qualified murder and the
perpetrator is liable to a punishment of at least
eight-years’
imprisonment or a long-term prison sentence. A mother who kills her child at
birth or shortly afterwards (infanticide)
is liable to a prison sentence from
one to eight years.
- According
to data provided by the Ministry of the Interior, from 1995 to 2001 there
were 44 reported cases of infanticide: 6 in 1995,
6 in 1996, 10 in
1997, 10 in 1998, 4 in 1999,
7 in 2000, and 1 in 2001.
D. Respect for the views of the child (art. 12)
- Amendments
to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia (1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001) have
not in any way affected the constitutional rights to the freedom of thought
and
expression of every individual, including children.
- Respect
for the child’s own views is reflected in a number of provisions of the
Family Act which recognizes the child’s
legal personality in specific
cases, such as the following:
(a) The child has the right to apply
to the competent authorities for the protection of his or her rights and the
authorities have
to take action accordingly;
(b) A child aged over 14 and capable of understanding paternity proceedings
must be asked for his consent to recognition of paternity;
(c) A minor aged over 16 may recognize maternity and paternity if capable of
understanding the meaning of a statement of recognition;
(d) A child aged over 15 having a legal guardian may dispute a decision on
the appointment or replacement of the guardian, as well
as any acts affecting
his or her rights and interests;
(e) A child capable of understanding the meaning and legal consequences of
his or her actions may request the competent authority
to issue a new decision
on parental care;
(f) The child has the right to lodge a complaint with the social welfare
centre in cases of disagreement between his or her parents
about how to exercise
parental care and the welfare centre has to issue a decision in the interest of
the child;
(g) In any procedure involving the protection of the child’s rights
and wellbeing the child must be given a chance to learn
about the essential
elements of the matter at issue, to be advised and to express his or her view,
to be informed about possible
consequences if his or her opinion is accepted.
The child’s view will be heeded depending on his or her age, maturity and
best interests;
(h) In adoption proceedings consent is sought from a child aged over 12, if
the social welfare centre decides that it is in the child’s
interest. In
an adoption procedure the child must be acquainted with the legal consequences
of adoption;
(i) A minor may independently apply for permission to enter into underage
marriage and can lodge a complaint against the decision.
The above examples show that the Croatian legislation keeps abreast of modern
trends, respects the child’s individuality and
attaches special importance
to the child’s rights.
- The
Personal Name Act stipulates that a child aged over 12 must approve a change of
his or her personal name (first name and family
name). The Centre on the Rights
of the Child has published a study entitled “The child’s right to
freely express his
or her views in divorce proceedings” in cooperation
with the UNICEF Office for Croatia. The study’s objectives were:
(a) to
determine the scope and ways of ensuring the child’s right to freely
express his or her own views (article 12 of the
Convention) in divorce
proceedings based on the new Family Act; and (b) to explore the opinions and
attitudes of judges and social
workers on the matter. By using the quantitative
method (analysis of court cases) and the qualitative method (discussions with
judges
and social welfare experts) the following results have been obtained:
A sample of 250 court cases (Zagreb Municipal Court) comprised 356
children and 73 judges. In only 22 cases (8.8 per cent) children
were
asked for their opinion. It was found that the final court decisions were not
necessarily in line with the child’s desires,
but then the Act insists on
the child’s best interest. Interviews with experienced judges, social
workers and psychologists
confirmed the need for partnership. They all show
concern for the child during a divorce procedure and feel that the child should
be informed of his or her right to freely express his or her opinion. All
surveyed target groups agree on the need to organize training
courses for
professionals, parents and children on the child’s rights in cases of
divorce, to create conditions suitable for
the
child to freely express his or her own opinion in divorce proceedings (at
school, to their relatives, in special premises with appropriate
atmosphere),
and to designate a legal counsel for the child. For further information in
respect of article 15 of the Convention,
see paragraphs 124-130 below.
IV. CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS (arts. 7, 8, 13, 17 and 37,
para. (a))
A. Name and citizenship
- Every
child born in Croatia is registered immediately after birth and given a name
(first name, family name) agreed between the parents.
If the parents cannot
agree on the child’s name, or if the child’s parents are unknown,
the name will be given by the
social welfare centre. There is also a
possibility of changing the child’s name in accordance with the Personal
Name Act.
- The
Family Act has introduced some novelties in terms of the child’s right to
know his or her parents, as stipulated in the
Convention. Thus, if the
father’s personal data are not available during the child’s
registration, the registrar has
to inform the mother about the child’s
right to know who his or her father is and about legal ways of asserting this
right.
If the child is registered without the father’s personal data, the
registrar has to notify the social welfare centre about
this fact. The welfare
centre in turn has to call the mother and tell her that it is her duty to name
the person she believes is
the child’s father. If she discloses the
father’s identity, the welfare centre will officially call the person to
report
to the centre to acknowledge paternity. If the fact of paternity (or
maternity) is not established through personal acknowledgement,
a court
procedure can be instituted to which the child can also be a suing party up to
the age of 15. One of the difficulties encountered
in earlier court procedures
of this kind was the high cost of expertise that the suing party (the
child’s mother or the child)
was faced with. Under the new provisions of
the Family Act this problem is eliminated, because an advance towards the costs
of expertise
is now covered by the court. The Family Act also provides for the
right to dispute paternity or maternity.
- As
for the child’s right to acquire citizenship, no changes in legislation
have been made, so the situation in this respect
corresponds to what was stated
in the initial report. The Croatian Citizenship Act contains a series of
provisions allowing a child
to acquire Croatian citizenship to avoid a situation
where the child would otherwise be stateless. For example, special protection
is assured for a child born or found in Croatia, if both parents are unknown, of
unknown citizenship, or stateless. In that case
the child acquires Croatian
citizenship. However, the child will lose his or her citizenship if before the
age of 14 it is found
that his or her parents are both aliens or if the parents
submit an application to this effect. In practice problems may arise in
acquiring citizenship if one or both parents, who are not Croatian nationals,
are known but their residence is unknown. In such
cases children cannot acquire
Croatian citizenship because there is no legal provision which would regulate
such situations. In
such cases, in compliance with the Croatian regulations,
the child is placed with a foster family or a welfare institution and enjoys
full protection. The country of origin of his or her parents is notified of the
placement.
- A
problem arises if the State concerned fails for some years to take
responsibility for a child whose parents’ nationality is
known, or to
agree that the Croatian State may assume permanent care for the child through
the institute of adoption. In that case,
children stay in a children’s
home or with a foster family until they reach majority, and are entitled to
health care and primary
and secondary school education, but what they will miss,
of course, is parental love and care.
B. Preservation of the child’s identity (arts. 8 and
20)
- For
preservation of the child’s identity the new Family Act stipulates the
child’s right to learn from the adopted parents
by the age of 7 at the
latest that he or she is an adopted child, or immediately after adoption if
adoption takes place after that
age. In this regard there were some negative
public reactions (specifically from the Organization of Adoptive Parents) on the
grounds
that in this way the adopted children are discriminated against in
relation to those who live with their natural parents. The law
does not
obligate the responsible welfare centre to check if the child is informed about
the fact of his or her being an adopted
child, nor does it provide for any
sanction against the adoptive parents. The welfare centre which conducts the
adoption procedure
informs the adoptive parents about this right of the child
and the reasons why it is important for the child to learn that he or
she is
adopted.
- Adoption
data are kept confidential and access to the adoption file and the chance to
learn who the biological parents are will be
allowed once the age of majority
has been attained. Access to the adoption file can also be allowed to a minor
if it is in his or
her interest. A child aged over 12 at the time of adoption
must give consent to a change of name. In both the adoption procedure
and the
choice of foster placement the responsible welfare centre pays due regard to the
desirability of continuity in a child’s
upbringing and to the
child’s ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic background in
compliance with articles 8 and 20 of
the Convention.
- Only
one case of a child’s changed identity has been recorded in Croatia. A
mother checked in a maternity hospital with the
personal documents of another
woman who immediately after the child’s birth took the baby as her own,
although the biological
mother, a refugee, entrusted the baby to her custody
only until she solved her social status. Under the Family Act, maternity
determination
measures were taken and criminal charges brought.
C. Freedom of expression, thought, conscience and
religion
(arts. 13 and 14)
- No
major changes in this respect have taken place since the initial report.
Article 92, paragraph 2, of the Family Act provides that
the child’s
upbringing must suit his or her age and maturity, with the child’s right
to the freedom of conscience, religion
and other conviction. Important progress
since the initial report has been made in article 88 of the Act which states
that the child
has the right to seek protection of his or her rights before the
competent authority which is then obliged to act accordingly.
- The
Croatian pre-school institutions as well as primary and secondary schools
encourage the child through their curricula to give
verbal or written expression
to his or her individuality and to give and receive information, and exchange
ideas of any kind, irrespective
of national borders, and by any means, artistic
or otherwise, chosen by the child. Such encouragement also comes from parents,
either
directly or by sending their children to take part in various outofschool
activities. Under the Family Act, parents are expected
to attend school
consultations with the child’s teachers and to care for the child’s
varied education, including development
of artistic, technical, sports and other
skills. If such parental duties are neglected, there is a possibility of
official intervention
by taking appropriate measures in the interest of the
child.
- Pre-school
education in Croatia is organized in 454 kindergartens, including 45 religious
and 80 private ones. Regular programmes
comprise 133,261
pre-schoolchildren, or 36 per cent of the total pre-school population. Each
local self-government unit must meet
necessary requirements for this purpose in
terms of accommodation and programmes suited to the child’s needs,
interests and
abilities. According to the national guidelines for long-term
development of education in Croatia, by 2005 the pre-school education
system
should comprise 60 per cent of the total pre-school population (from 6 months to
6 years of age).
D. Freedom of association and of peaceful assembly (art.
15)
- A
change in relation to the previous report is that the earlier Social
Organizations and Associations Act has been replaced by the 1997 Associations
Act. Under the Associations Act, members of an association can be Croatian
citizens possessing legal capacity or legal entities resident in Croatia. As
for persons
lacking legal capacity, including children, they can become only
nominal members of associations, without the right to participate
in the
managing bodies of an association.
- About
40 foundations have been established in Croatia, of which 10 or so deal with
children one way or the other (aid, scholarships,
help to children’s
creativity, etc.). A special role for children victims of the war is played by
“Ivan Brlić Mažuranić”
Foundation, established on
10 March 1992 by the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare with the
purpose of helping children whose
one or both parents were killed or disabled in
the war. The Foundation draws up lists of needy children, collects financial
and
material aid, mediates in temporary or long-term foster home arrangements,
such as “godparenthood”, and provides assistance
in further
education, among other things. The Foundation has been highly flexible in
coordinating the work of various humanitarian
organizations engaged in
collecting and distributing aid to children. In 1996 it found
“godparents” for 394 children
from among individuals or families
abroad attached to humanitarian organizations such as the German-Croatian Forum,
Augsburg, which
at the very start arranged “godparenthoods” for 240
children, and the Association of Friends, Milan, which within three
years
arranged “godparenthoods” for 106 children. Many donors from home
and abroad pay in their contributions to the
Foundation’s account at their
own initiative. These funds were used for one-time (Christmas and New Year)
money assistance,
purchase of school textbooks and accessories and for other
needs of children victims of the war. Since the end of 2000, although
the
Foundation ceased to operate because it did not comply with the provisions of
the Foundations Act, 60 children have continued
to receive help from their
“godparents”.
- Many
NGOs engaged in child protection include children in their programme activities.
Their work is helped from the State budget.
Thus, in 2000 the programmes of 65
NGOs were financed wholly or partially from the State budget. Cooperation
between non-governmental
and governmental organizations has been particularly
helpful in the area of child protection in cases involving family violence (SOS
and Courage Telephones). The opening of homes for victims of domestic violence
is encouraged, educational seminars and consultations
are held, and various
publications on child rights published.
- Attempts
were made by local communities to ensure the participation of children in
the decision-making process. For example, the
“Children’s
Forum” project (started on 20 November 1999), launched by
“Our Children” Union, has resulted
in 86 children’s forums
being set up throughout Croatia involving more than 2,000 children from 9 to 14
years of age. The
representatives of the children’s forums from one town
constitute a “children’s city council” which follows
up
the work of the town administration and puts forward proposals.
Currently 34 towns have councils of this kind. In the first
week of
October the “Children’s Week” is held and the mayor receives
children’s delegations. Children’s
councils are also formed in
children’s homes by inmates over 10 years of age. They meet once a month
and come up with proposals
to the superintendent. If the superintendent does
not respond to their proposals, or if they are not satisfied with the response,
they can go a step further by presenting their proposals to the managing board.
E. Protection of privacy (art. 16)
- The
protection of the child’s privacy can be described in terms of two
aspects. The first is the child’s privacy within
the family.
Professional work with families shows that traditional family patterns still
persist here and there. For example, parents
tend to read the child’s
letters, diaries and the like. It happens quite often that after such
infringement children, especially
adolescents, are exposed to verbal and even
physical violence. To eliminate such incidents, teachers, the media and experts
specialized
in family conflicts highlight the harmful effects of such practices
on the child’s physical and mental growth. Particularly
effective in this
regard are some television programmes for children and parents, combined with
regular spots promoting the child’s
rights.
- On
the other hand, newspapers, especially sensational ones, often give an unfair
account of criminal acts injurious to children (gross
neglect and abuse,
especially sexual exploitation of children). True, the child’s name is
not published, but the published
data on the perpetrator often identify the
child, which adversely affects the child’s normal development. That is
why more
lawsuits will be filed against reporters in future, or complaints
lodged with the journalists’ associations calling on them
to abide by the
code of conduct of their profession. The Media Act (art. 13, para. 2) requires
the public media to respect the privacy
and dignity of citizens, especially
children, youth and families.
- Some
registrars are issuing documents for an adopted child with data on his or her
biological parents and a remark that the child
was adopted, by whom and when,
which also constitutes a violation of the child’s right to privacy.
- The
Juvenile Court Act as a law intended for minor offenders provides in its article
55:
“(1) The course of criminal proceedings against a minor,
or the ruling passed, shall not be publicized without the court’s
approval;
“(2) Only the part of the proceedings and the part of the ruling for
which an approval has been obtained may be publicized,
but in this case the
minor’s name and other data which may suggest the minor’s identity
shall not be disclosed.”
These provisions equally apply to criminal acts injurious to the child. A
person who violates these provisions may be charged with
abuse of the Official
Secret Act.
- As
for the secrecy of criminal proceedings conducted against minors or for acts
committed against children, a seminar on the role
of the media in juvenile cases
was held in November 1999 by the Union of Croatian Judges, the Public
Attorney’s Office of the
Republic of Croatia, the Croatian
Journalists’ Society and the American Chamber of the Bar. The seminar was
attended by juvenile
court judges, public prosecutors and journalists covering
juvenile delinquency and crimes against children. Since more and more
public
discussion has recently focused on cases of violence against children, the media
have become much more responsive to this
problem. Yet, in spite of this change
for the better, continued education of journalists is deemed
necessary.
F. Access to information (art. 17)
- Over
the past period important progress has been made in the inclusion of all major
actors, especially the mass media, in the promotion
of the child’s rights
in a suitable manner. Great attention is also paid to the accessibility of
children’s books, so
each school and each town district has a
children’s library.
- A
number of children in Croatia are using the Internet which provides them with
highly desirable but also very harmful information.
It is estimated that some
400,000 individuals, or about 10 per cent of Croatia’s
population, are using the Internet.
- The
practice shows that children are becoming increasingly well informed about their
rights. More and more children are turning with
their problems to their
schoolteachers, health institutions, social welfare centres, police stations and
other relevant official
places.
- The
Institute for Social Research, Zagreb, has conducted a study on the role of the
mass media in the everyday life of children.
The survey comprised 1,000
children aged 10-14 from various parts of Croatia. The results show that the
role of the media in the
child’s leisure time is quite important.
Nevertheless, children spend more time with their friends or watching
television.
The older they are the more preference they give to radio (girls
more than boys). Fifty-six per cent of the subjects watch television
for three
or more hours a day (75 per cent of them have three or more hours of leisure
time). It is their performance in school
rather than the level of education of
their parents that determines the length of television viewing (the group with
lower school
grades had both extremes in the length of time spent before the
television set, whereas the best students tend to watch television
for two hours
a day). Films and serials attract over 80 per cent of children, prize and quiz
shows over 60 per cent, whereas culture
and current affairs programmes are found
least attractive. Children are extremely fond of comedies
(92 per cent). The results also
show that the older they get the less
they care for educational programmes (preferred more by girls than boys).
Children from lower-class
families and small provincial towns prefer
entertainment programmes. Boys and young children are fond of programmes which
satisfy
their need for excitement.
- In
1999 the National Institute for the Protection of Family, Maternity and Youth,
in cooperation with UNICEF, launched a project entitled
“The impact of the
mass media on children”. The conclusions from panel discussions following
this research project require
the introduction of media education in the school
with a view to protecting children from adverse consequences through specific
regulations.
- A
major contribution to informing children about their rights and to sensitizing
the public to this issue has been made by many NGOs
and various UNICEF-sponsored
projects in Croatia. Particularly worth noting in this regard are the
Association for Initiatives in
Social Policies, the Our Children Society, and
the Small Step Organizations. Special credit for the promotion of the
child’s
rights goes to projects which have resulted in the production of
two books entitled: “We Know and Live Our Rights” and
“Education for Development”, a collaborative effort of UNICEF and
the Ministry of Education and Sports.
- As
part of its scientific, educational and documentary programmes the national
television airs regular broadcasts on the rights of
the child, together with
eye-catching spots promoting the rights and the principles embodied in the
Convention.
G. The right of the child not to be subjected to torture or
other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art. 37, para.
(a))
- This
issue was discussed in detail in Croatia’s initial report, so only
important changes will be described here.
- Croatia
has no death penalty nor life imprisonment. Adult offenders can be sentenced to
a maximum prison term of 40 years. Juvenile
custody, as a rule, cannot exceed 5
years, in exceptional cases 10 years for crimes for which an adult person would
receive a long-term
prison sentence.
- The
constitutional principles, as well as legislation and the public at large, are
strongly opposed to torture of any human being,
especially children.
- For
more information on juvenile delinquents, see chapter VIII, section B,
below.
V. FAMILY ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE CARE
A. Parental guidance and responsibility (arts. 5 and 18,
paras. 1 and 2)
- Both
general and special provisions of the Family Act define the responsibilities,
duties and rights of parents to care for the life
and health of their child, to
protect the child from degrading treatment and physical punishment by others, to
care for the child’s
upbringing, education, property rights and to live
with the child by respecting his or her personality in compliance with the
Convention.
The Family Act also provides for preventive measures in cases where
parents fail to properly attend to their parental duties.
- Optimal
mental and physical development of the child certainly requires a family
environment and shared responsibility for his or
her upbringing and rearing by
both parents.
As noted in the earlier report, parents are generally loving
and caring, even when faced with
- extreme
difficulties and sacrifices. According to the 2001 Yearbook of Statistics, out
of 827,281 married couples with children (1991 census) 140,134 children live
only with their mothers, and 29,525 only with their fathers.
- To
strengthen the family and promote the child’s rights, daily accommodation
is provided, especially for self-supporting mothers,
but also for all employed
parents, in nurseries, kindergartens and schools. The costs of these facilities
are for the most part
met from the State budget; parents pay only part of the
cost, the amounts being proportional to their financial situation and housing
conditions.
- In
compliance with the Social Welfare Act and in the interest of family life, poor
parents and children with special needs are also
helped financially. Such
assistance, regulated by the Social Welfare Act,
includes:
(a) Upkeep aid, extended to single persons or families
without means for bare necessities according to the criteria defined in this
Act;
(b) Housing cost aid which may be approved to a single person or a family
(according to the criteria defined in this Act);
(c) One-time aid to a single person or a family faced with serious financial
hardships;
(d) Allowance for assistance and care approved to a person who needs daily
help from another person;
(e) Disability benefits payable to a person with serious physical or mental
disability or a person whose health is permanently impaired
and whose impairment
or disease was caused before the age of 18.
- The
Social Welfare Act pays special attention to poor families with children. In
determining the amount of upkeep aid and other rights
under this Act, account is
taken of the number of family members and its age structure. Families with
numerous children are entitled
to more aid. Under the Social Welfare Act a
child under 15 is considered wholly unable to work, and a child from 15 to 18
years
of age or up to completed schooling need not be registered with the labour
office to qualify for upkeep aid.
- Although
some parents lack the required skills or even the will to properly rear their
child, if it is in the child’s best interest
to remain in the family
environment, the Family Act provides for two preventive measures, also
applicable at the time of the initial
report, which are now elaborated in more
detail. These measures are as follows:
(a) The social welfare
centre will warn the parents of their failures and omissions in childcare and
help them eliminate such failures
and omissions; it may also refer them to a
counselling centre or a school for parents;
(b) The social welfare centre will order a supervision of parental care
where failures and omissions in childcare are multifaceted
or repeated and where
the parents need special help in rearing the child. In such cases a person is
designated to perform supervision
and define the supervision programme; if
required, the child and the parent are sent to a health or other institution for
treatment
or other professional help, or the child may be sent to a
children’s home for half-day or daily stay. Such supervision is
ordered
for a minimum period of six months and the person in charge of supervision
reports to the social welfare centre at least
once every two months, or at
shorter intervals if so requested by the centre.
- Under
article 97 of the Family Act, parents have the duty and right to represent their
child and carry out legal transactions on his
or her behalf, unless otherwise
stated by the law. What is promoted here is the developing freedom of the child
to take independent
legal actions.
- The
social welfare centre can at any time request parents to account for the way
they are managing the child’s property, or
the income earned by the child
or by the family for the needs of the child, based on special regulations.
- For
the protection and management of the child’s property the social welfare
centre can confer on the parents the status of
legal guardians.
- If,
in the opinion of the court or the social welfare centre, a conflict of
interests is likely to arise in a legal case between the
child and the parents,
the social welfare centre will appoint a legal guardian to act on behalf of the
child and to represent its
interests in an administrative or court procedure or
in a legal transaction between the child and the parents. In addition, for
the
purpose of protecting the child’s property rights the social welfare
centre may request the court to impose surety on the
parents’
property.
- Compared
to the earlier Marriage and Family Relations Act, the new Family Act introduces
the principle of shared parental care and
responsibility in cases where parents
live separately. In such cases the competent authority may decide that some
duties pertaining
to parental care will be performed by the parent with whom the
child lives (e.g., care for the child’s health, out-of-school
activities,
help in learning, property management, etc.). In a specific case the competent
authority may decide that only one parent
will care for the child.
B. Separation from parents and upbringing outside
the
child’s own family (arts. 9 and 20)
- While
the child’s own family is normally the best environment for his or her
upbringing, in some situations it is in the child’s
interest to be
entrusted to the care of a social welfare institution, an individual, or a
foster family. The same is applied to
children without parents.
- Under
the Social Welfare Act, children whose parents may have a sense of
responsibility for and be emotionally attached to them, but
their living
conditions (a serious chronic or contagious disease, poor housing, etc.) do not
allow them for the time being to live
a family life with their child may be
placed in a children’s home or a foster family. According to this Act, a
child may be
separated from his or her parents only on a temporary basis until
such time as the parents have created conditions for joint family
life. In the
meantime, the parent must keep regular contacts with the child and take care of
him or her as far as possible. The
parents ought to give their consent to the
child’s placement and can interrupt the arrangement any time they choose
and assume
full responsibility for their child. For those parents who do not
meet
- requirements
for the child’s return to the family a procedure may be instituted to
withdraw the right of parental care. Under
this same Act, children with special
needs (physically or mentally handicapped), may be placed in a welfare
institution, if it is
in the interest of their rehabilitation or education, or
if their parents are unable to adequately provide for them.
- Under
the Family Act, separation of children from their families and their placement
in a welfare institution or a foster family is
linked to measures limiting or
excluding parental care. If parents are grossly neglecting the duties of
rearing and upbringing,
or if the child’s proper upbringing is at risk,
the social welfare centre may deny parent(s) the right to live with and rear
the
child; in such cases the child will be placed in the custody of a foster family
or a children’s home. Considered as serious
neglect of the child is
insufficient care for the child’s food, hygiene, clothes, medical
assistance, regular school attendance
and other needs. This measure is also
applied to parents who have not protected their child from the harmful influence
of other
persons, especially other members of the family. Withdrawing the right
of custody and upbringing does not relieve parents of other
parental duties
vis-à-vis the child. The parents remain responsible for all important
decisions affecting the person and
the property of the child. For example, they
will decide on the type of school the child is going to attend, surgical
interventions,
employment, etc. The parents also remain committed to regularly
meeting the child and to contribute to his or her support.
- At
its own discretion or if so requested by the parent or legal guardian, the
social welfare centre may assign a child with newly
occurring behavioural
disorders to a welfare institution for half-day, daily, weekly or longer stay,
if the parents or the foster
family are unable to rear the child in a
satisfactory manner. The treatment of children placed in a reformatory will be
described
below in more detail.
- It
should be noted that under the new Family Act the withdrawal of the
parents’ right to live with their child and the assignment
to a
reformatory can be imposed by the social welfare centres for a maximum duration
of one year, after which in the interest of
the child the efficacy of the
imposed measure must be reviewed and the same or another protection measure
imposed. Furthermore,
a child can be separated from his or her parents if the
court has decided to deny them the right of parental care for gross neglect
or
abuse of parental duties.
- Unlike
the earlier regulations, the Family Act explicitly defines the meaning of gross
neglect or abuse of parental rights and duties.
Under article 115 of the Family
Act, a parent is abusing the parental rights and duties, if he or
she:
(a) Exerts physical or mental violence over the child;
(b) Sexually exploits the child;
(c) Exploits the child by forcing it to do exhausting work or work not
suited to its age,
(d) Allows the child to consume alcohol, narcotic drugs or other
substances;
(e) Induces the child to behave in a socially unacceptable manner;
(f) In other ways seriously violates the child’s rights.
- A
parent is considered to be grossly neglecting parental rights and duties, if he
or she:
(a) Abandons the child;
(b) Fails for more than three months to care for the child with whom he or
she lives;
(c) Fails within one year without a strongly justified reason to create
conditions for family life with the child who is placed with
another family or
in a children’s home;
(d) Fails to provide the bare necessities for the child with whom he or she
lives or to comply with the measures imposed by a competent
authority in the
interest of the child’s rights and well-being.
- Children
who are separated from their families are placed in social welfare institutions.
Data on these children are given below:
- − Homes
for children deprived of proper parental care (1,138 placed by end of
2001);
- − Homes
for children with behavioural disorders (1,060 placed by end of 2001);
- − Homes
for children with special needs (1,888 placed by end of 2001).
- In
2001 foster families hosted 2,635 children of whom 1,481 for reasons of
inadequate parental care, 44 with behavioural disorders,
241 because their
parents were unable to take care of them (up to three months), 6 together with
their mothers, 40 with mental disorders
or addicts, and 553 physically or
mentally handicapped.
- The
above data are taken from the records of the Ministry of Labour and Social
Welfare.
- Regarding
the choice of the foster family it should be noted that this procedure is
conducted by a social welfare centre with an expert
team on its staff (a social
worker, psychologist and lawyer). These experts carefully analyse the
prevailing financial and social
conditions in a prospective foster family as
well as personal traits of fosterers (their attitude to children, their motives
for
placing the child, their qualifications in terms of what they
can
contribute to the child’s education, their characteristics as educators,
their housing conditions, etc.). Wherever possible,
due regard is paid to the
desirability of placing the child in a family as much similar as possible to the
child’s ethnic,
religious, cultural and linguistic background (in line
with the Convention).
- Qualified
personnel of the social welfare centre are responsible for overseeing the
progress made by the child in adapting to his
new environment and regularly
following up the health, development and upbringing of the fostered child.
- In
case of any doubt about the well-being of the child living in a foster family,
the welfare centre concerned will revoke its foster
placement decision and seek
an alternative placement, especially if it is found that the existing foster
family is solely motivated
by money.
- It
should be noted that placement in a foster family or a children’s home is
considered a temporary measure until conditions
have been created for the
child’s return to his or her own family, or for adoption.
C. Family reunification (art. 10)
- The
legislation of the Republic of Croatia stipulates that, unless a treaty provides
otherwise, a competent authority of the Republic
of Croatia shall take
provisional measures for the protection of the rights and interests of the
person and property of a foreign
national until an authority of the State whose
national such person is issues appropriate decision and takes specific measures.
Accordingly,
the competent authorities of the Republic of Croatia take all
necessary measures to protect children living on its territory without
parental
care, and they communicate their names to the Ministry of Labour and Social
Welfare. In all such cases the Ministry of
Labour and Social Welfare informs
the competent authorities of their parents’ domicile State.
- It
should be noted that the number of children of families separated by war was
greatly reduced over the past years, and the competent
authorities of the
Republic of Croatia take all measures and activities aimed at family
reunification or at least at establishing
contact with the relatives if parents
cannot be found. To this end, the authorities have established cooperation with
the International
Committee of the Red Cross within which there is a search
service, and with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and
UNICEF.
The International Social Service is of great help, too.
- For
instance, in 1997, social welfare centres issued decisions terminating custody
for 67 persons, of whom 35 attained majority and
32 children reunited
with their families in the Republic of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or
other countries.
- In
a large number of cases the contacts between parents and their children and
relatives were established through cooperation with
ISS offices in Europe and
the competent authorities of the Republic of Croatia.
- Croatia
is a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child
Abduction, pursuant to which Croatia acts on
the requests of the central
authorities of other States and of its own citizens.
D. Illicit transfer and non-return of the child (art.
11)
- While
basic information was presented in the initial report, this report will briefly
present new developments in the legislation
and practice.
- The
Republic of Croatia has been a party to the Hague Convention on the Civil
Aspects of International Child Abduction since 8 October
1991. The Convention
was ratified by Croatia on 7 April 1994.
- The
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, as a central authority in the sense of
the provisions of the Convention, annually deals
with about 10 cases of illicit
transfer or non-return of children, in addition to 10 more cases concerning the
enforcement of decisions
on contacts (meeting and staying with the parent with
whom the child does not regularly live).
- The
decision on the recognition and enforcement of foreign court decisions in such
cases, including the decisions on the requests
pursuant to the Hague Convention
on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, lies within the jurisdiction
of the courts.
The Republic of Croatia is considering acceding to the European
Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Decisions concerning
Custody of
Children and on Restoration of Custody of Children.
- According
to information from the Ministry of the Interior concerning the current
reporting period, police authorities acted within
their competence in 18 cases
of illicit transfer or abduction of children, pursuant to the Hague Convention
on the Civil Aspects
of International Child Abduction (establishing
children’s whereabouts and providing assistance in enforcing court
decisions
on the return of children). The problem of the court practice is that
there is no uniform proceeding, which is why it is necessary
to train those
experts dealing with such cases within the justice and administration systems.
To date, proposed plans for training
courses have not been accepted owing to
lack of funds in the national budget.
- With
regard to new developments in the legislation of the Republic of Croatia the
Criminal Code contains a provision pursuant to which
a person who takes a child
away from its parents, guardians, or institution to which the child was
entrusted, and takes the child
abroad, is liable to severe punishment.
- Pursuant
to the Family Act, if the child is, without legal ground, with another person
who refuses to return the child, the social
welfare centre shall decide on the
parents’ request without delay.
E. Maintenance (art. 27, para. 4)
- The
basis of maintenance was presented in detail in the initial report; therefore
only amendments to the legislation will be presented
here.
- Parents
are under an obligation to provide maintenance for their child who is of age in
the following cases:
(a) During the regular education of the child
and until it has been completed, plus one more year after completing the
education,
if the child cannot get a job;
(b) If, due to illness and physical or mental handicaps, the child is
incapable of working and has no sufficient means of support.
- The
Republic of Croatia is a party to the United Nations Convention on the Recovery
of Alimony from Abroad of 1956 and acts pursuant
to it in case of international
requests. Annually, there are about 70 such requests from other States on
average, while the Republic
of Croatia makes about 30 such claims to other
States on behalf of children who live on its territory.
F. Children deprived of their family environment (art.
20)
- The
implementation of article 20 of the Convention was reported on among the issues
dealt with under article 6.
G. Adoption (art. 21)
- In
the opinion of experts adoption is the most appropriate form of protection of
children without parental care and children whose
parents do not take proper
care of them and there is no chance they are going to do so any time soon.
- Pursuant
to the Family Act there are two kinds of adoption: by relatives and by adoptive
parents. As a rule, persons adopting children
must be between 21 and 35, and if
it is of particular interest to the child the adoptive persons may even be
older, but the age difference
between the adoptive persons and the adopted child
may not exceed 40 years.
- Intercountry
adoption is also possible, but only exceptionally, if it is of particular
benefit to the child. Particular benefit to
the child exists if it is adopted
by its stepfather, stepmother or a relative, in case of previous emotional
attachment of the child
to the adoptive persons, or if the child is eligible for
adoption and there are no Croatian citizens interested in his or her
adoption.
- In
1999, there were 159 adoption cases in the Republic of Croatia, of which 127 by
relatives and 32 by adoptive parents. These figures
also include 7 intercountry
adoptions.
- In
2000, there were 171 adoptions, of which 128 by relatives and 43 by adoptive
parents. These figures include 10 intercountry adoptions.
- In
2001, there were 148 adoptions, of which 122 by relatives and 26 by adoptive
parents. These figures include 4 adoptions by foreign
nationals.
- Adoption
is considered the most adequate form of protection of children without
appropriate parental care, and wherever legal requirements
are met this form of
childcare should be preferred to placement in foster family or children’s
home.
- The
procedure for adoption, from the selection of adoptive persons to deciding on
the adoption, is in the exclusive jurisdiction of
the State and is conducted
free of charge. Adoption may only be effected if it is in the interest of the
child. However, we cannot
be quite satisfied with the work of the social
welfare centres, because they do not do enough to increase the number of
adoptions,
with the result that so many children remain in children’s
homes for extended periods of time.
- The
number of potential adoptive persons, compared with the number of children
eligible for adoption, is much greater - in 2001, for instance, social
welfare centres
received 3,876 adoption applications.
H. Periodic review of placement (art. 25)
- Pursuant
to the provisions of the Social Welfare Act and the Family Act, the social
welfare centres staff are obliged to monitor the
circumstances under which
children live outside their own family, including the monitoring of their
physical and mental health and
their needs. To this end, the staff of the
social welfare centres are obliged to visit a child in placement at least once
every
six months. The social welfare institutions submit reports as necessary,
or at least once a year, about all circumstances of significance
to the rearing
of the child. In the case of a child under guardianship, the guardian is
obliged to submit a report on his or her
work and on the condition of the child
at least once every six months and when the social welfare centre so
requests.
- In
accordance with the provisions of the Social Welfare Act, special rules on the
type of home for children and adults and their activities,
requirements
regarding the premises, equipment and necessary professional and other employees
of a social welfare home require high-quality
standards for homes where children
are placed. These rules reduced the number of children in educational groups,
and made it mandatory
to employ a social worker and a psychologist as part of
the professional team at children’s homes. When required,
children’s
homes commission outside experts to raise the level of
professional work at these home.
- Experience
showed that extended stay at an institution for children who leave when they
become of age or complete their education
causes them to be disoriented in the
society because they have not been sufficiently prepared to live on their own.
The problem
is greater if children have no relatives who can offer them a place
to stay, and if they cannot find a job. To remedy this situation,
four housing
communities have been established in the Republic of Croatia, consisting of four
flats with four children living in
each of them.
- Three
flats (two in Zagreb and one in Osijek) operate as branches of children’s
homes, and one housing community was established
by a non-governmental
organization.
- As
at 2001, there were 14 homes for children without proper parental care
established by the Republic of Croatia, and in 2002, 3 children’s
homes of
other founders were opened (one children’s home established by SOS
Kinderdorf Croatia, one by Caritas, and one established
by the Spanish
association Nuevo Futuro).
- Within
the framework of the national policy for the protection of the rights of the
child activities are being intensified to educate
the staff at children’s
homes so that they can, in cooperation with the competent social welfare
centres, recognize individual
cases in order to take appropriate measures for
the protection of the child. Reducing the stay of children at an institution by
creating conditions favourable to returning them to their biological parents as
soon as possible, to having them adopted, or to placing
them in a foster family
is an objective we hope we can realize.
- As
at 31 December 2001, children’s homes established by the Republic of
Croatia accommodated 1,138 children. Of this number
1,083 children were
permanently
accommodated, while 55 beneficiaries were only accommodated
during the day or were
pregnant women/mothers with babies. Of the total
number of permanently accommodated children, 575 were boys and 508 girls. Most
accommodated children were between 7
and 14 years of age (414), of whom 179
girls and 235 boys.
- In
2001, accommodation was terminated for 313 children for the following
reasons:
- − Coming
of age/completion of education (61);
- − Return
to their parents (144);
- − Placement
with their relatives (8);
- − Adoption
(61);
- − Placement
in an institution for behavioural disorders (20);
- − Placement
in an institution for children with difficulties in their mental and physical
development (19).
- According
to information from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare as
at 31 December 2001, foster families accommodated 2,365
children,
of whom 1,481 without proper parental care, 241 children whose parents were
temporarily incapable of taking care of them
(placement up to three months), 553
physically or mentally disabled children, 40 children addicted to alcohol, drugs
and other substances,
44 children with behavioural disorders, and
6 pregnant women. In recent years this type of accommodation of children
has received
increased attention, particularly with regard to the promotion of
placement in foster families, closer scrutiny of the foster families
and
professional work with the families. Regrettably, recent analyses show that in
about 20 per cent of foster families adults are
over 60, and that 20
per cent of foster family adults are without education or with incomplete
elementary school education. It is
encouraging, however, that the number of
families wishing to take care of children increases from year to year, which
makes it possible
to place children who require individual work. As
at 31 December 2001, 68 per cent of the families
accommodated one child only.
- Substantial
changes have taken place since 1996 with regard to the establishment of the
so-called Autonomous Women’s House.
This issue is dealt with in greater
detail in connection with articles 19 and 39 of the Convention where
legislation and practice
related to the establishment and operation of shelters
for victims of domestic violence are presented.
- The
1997 Social Welfare Act makes it also possible for religious communities,
associations, companies, and other natural persons or
legal entities, domestic
or foreign, to found a children’s home, under the conditions and in the
manner prescribed by the Croatian
Law on Associations, and the Social Welfare
Act.
- The
Republic of Croatia has regulated the issue of provisional measures for urgent
accommodation of children who are foreign nationals
and who live in the Croatian
territory without their parents or guardians. Such children are first placed in
a home or foster family,
then they are given health care and maintenance, and a
guardian is appointed to protect their interests. In the meantime, the country
whose national the child is is notified in order to arrange possible follow-up
to the measures for the protection of the child, i.e.
family reunification. In
2001, there were 89 foreign children in custody in Croatia.
I. Abuse and neglect, including physical and psychological
recovery
and social reintegration (arts. 19 and 39)
- According
to the Constitution and the Family Act of the Republic of Croatia parents are
primarily responsible for and entitled to the protection of children.
In all
cases of irresponsible parental treatment of the child’s interests, the
competent authorities are authorized to intervene.
This is always a sensitive
matter, frequently raising issues about the limits to the proceeding in such
cases, intrusion in family
privacy, protection of privacy and inviolability of
home, etc. It is widely accepted that in cases of reasonable doubt about the
interest of the child being in jeopardy - be it for reasons of neglect,
abuse or other - the competent social welfare centre or judicial
bodies are to
act ex officio or at the request of the other parent.
- The
Republic of Croatia specifically monitors cases of domestic violence, and since
violent behaviour of one member of the family
towards another may result in
psychological abuse of the child, in December 2000 the legislator amended the
Criminal Code by adding
a new provision entitled “Violent behaviour within
family”. The provision reads: “The family member who, through
violence, abuse or particularly impudent behaviour, puts another family member
into a humiliating position shall be punished by a
prison term ranging from
three months to three years.”
- The
new Family Act in force since 1 July 1999 provides: “Violent behaviour of
either spouse or any other adult member of the
family within that family is
prohibited.”
- Article
362 of the same Act provides that “either spouse or any other adult member
of the family who in contravention of article
118 of the Family Act acts
violently shall be punished for misdemeanour by a prison term of 30 days”.
Among the gravest forms
of socially unacceptable behaviour of citizens are
domestic violence and violence against the child by others. The monitoring of
the trends shows an increase in the number of reported cases of abuse of women
and/or children. It is unclear whether this is due
to the victims’
awareness of the need to report such cases, or the increasing sensitization of
the competent services and the
general public to this complex issue.
- The
increasing number of cases of violent behaviour of family members made it
necessary to punish such behaviour, regardless of whether
violence was committed
against an under-age or adult member of the family. Besides the protection
provided by the family legislation,
in such cases there are also misdemeanour
and criminal sanctions against perpetrators. It also proved necessary to issue
restraining
orders because it is believed that in particular cases prohibiting
the violent person from approaching the victim is the most effective
and direct
help that can be given to the victim.
- According
to the report by the Ministry of the Interior police intervention in domestic
violence cases prior to 1 July 1999 was difficult
because there were no clear
legal provisions separating domestic violence from the family privacy and
placing it within reach of
intervention by the State. In this period, the legal
basis for police action was provided when domestic violence qualified as a
misdemeanour or criminal offence became punishable by
law.
- In
spite of such normative ambiguities and shortcomings with regard to domestic
violence, between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2001
the
police in the Republic of Croatia received a total of 55,092 requests or reports
calling for protection against violence, and
intervened in 54,675 cases,
reporting 31,801 perpetrators of misdemeanours and 4,481 violent criminal
offenders. There were 41,075
victims of domestic violence. In 10,578 cases the
competent social welfare centre was instructed to take adequate measures for the
protection of children under family legislation.
- Substantial
changes in suppressing domestic violence occurred with the police implementation
of the provisions of article 118 of the
Family Act, after its entry into
force on 1 July 1999, and article 362. Enforcing these legal
provisions on the basis of reports
or protection requests received in the period
between 1 July 1999 and 31 December 2002, the police
discovered and reported 9,063
perpetrators of acts of domestic violence,
including 12,928 victims.
- With
a view to improving the police work and ensuring uniform treatment of domestic
violence cases the Ministry of the Interior issued
the following instructions in
November 1999 about how the police were to proceed in the implementation of the
provision of article
118 of the Family Act, defining the limits and manner of
police intervention in case of domestic violence:
- − The
police intervention begins with the receipt of the report or request for
protection against any form of domestic violence
from whomever and in whatever
way;
- − Sending
police officers to the location, checking on the report or request for
protection and taking measures and actions
to help the victim for the purpose of
providing medical assistance and preventing further violence;
- − Collecting
information and data necessary for resolving the case and providing
evidence;
- − Placing
the perpetrator in police custody (if the legal requirements for this are met),
requesting the institution of misdemeanour
proceedings, in accordance with
articles 118 and 362 of the Family Act, and bringing the perpetrator before
the magistrate;
- − In the
request for instituting misdemeanour proceedings, depending on the
circumstances, the applicant may also demand that
adequate protection measures
be ordered (e.g. taking away the weapon from the perpetrator);
- − When
the victim of domestic violence is a minor, or when a minor witnesses the
perpetration of an act of violence, the criminal
police officers specializing in
juvenile delinquency are to intervene because of the suspicion that the act may
constitute a criminal
offence specified in article 213 of the Criminal
Code;
- − Preparing
notification for the social welfare personnel to inform them about what has been
done and established with a view
to possible follow-up social interventions and
measures from within their jurisdiction.
- Between
1 January and 31 December 2001, 5,004 perpetrators of domestic violence
were reported for misdemeanour in Croatia, of whom
559, or 11.7 per
cent, were brought before a magistrate, while pursuant to article 35
of the Police Act, 863, or 16.7 per cent, were
detained at police premises.
Magistrates issued 828 enforceable decisions, and the police
lodged 20 complaints against the decision
of the magistrates. Violent
behaviour within the family for which the perpetrator was reported to the
magistrate included 7,195
victims (of this, 1,774, or 24.5 per cent, minors
- 1,359 children, 415 persons under 18, and 5,205 adults) of whom 3,847, or 53.7
per cent, were women.
- The
amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Croatia that entered into
force on 1 January 2001 sanctioned a new criminal
offence - violent
behaviour within the family specified in article 215.a of the Criminal
Code, which is to be prosecuted ex officio.
In 2001, the first year of
implementation, the police in Croatia discovered and reported 443 such criminal
offences.
- In
order to resolve the issue of domestic violence fully and adequately, Croatia
has recognized the need to draft and pass a special
law on the protection of
family against violence that will develop and ensure the implementation of a
uniform procedure to include
all aspects of the problem, consistently oriented
and with clear objectives, to be followed by all government and private
institutions.
- All
that was done indicated the need for shelters for victims of domestic violence.
The Republic of Croatia does not own any shelters
for the victims of domestic
violence where mothers and children could be accommodated together. It has been
decided that the Government
should not open such shelters, but the legislation
provides a possibility to natural persons and legal entities to establish public
institutions for social care - homes for children and adults victims of domestic
violence. Two such institutions exist in Croatia,
one in Rijeka, established by
Caritas of the Rijeka Archbishopric, and the other in Rovinj. Negotiations on
the provision of such
services are under way with associations in Osijek and
Split. To date, social welfare centres have mostly cooperated with
non-governmental
organizations that set up shelters for the victims of domestic
violence whose capacity is not nearly sufficient.
- The
issue of domestic violence requires multidisciplinary and inter-agency approach.
To this end, government activities have been
stepped up to achieve close
inter-agency cooperation.
- In
cooperation with the Government of Croatia Commission for Gender Equality and
the Council of Europe, the event “Together
against violence against
women” took place.
- The
preparation of the Protocol for inter-agency cooperation in the protection of
children against abuse and neglect is under way
and will be completed after the
current reform of the criminal and family legislation. Government policy in
this area aims at creating
conditions for preventive action and permanent
improvement of ways and methods of professional treatment of the victims of
domestic
violence, particularly children. To this end, the emphasis is placed
on multidisciplinary team approach, encouraging continuous
professional
education of experts in this field. To date, the Ministry of Labour and Social
Welfare organized several joint seminars
for social welfare staff, police and
members of the judiciary (note that each year there are joint seminars for
police officers and
social welfare staff).
- Activities
of NGOs at the local level are of special importance for the protection of
children. Such activities are noted in Split
(Mirta association) and Zadar
(Family Counselling Centre, Caritas). Non-governmental local projects and
preventive work include
working directly with victims of violence (counselling
centres, SOS hotlines, shelters for domestic violence victims, etc.).
- Information
on child abuse or neglect may be communicated to a social welfare centre by
anyone (even anonymously). Primary care for
the victim depends on each
individual case. When there is information about abuse or gross neglect of a
child, the social welfare
centre shall ex officio take measures for the
protection of the child under the family legislation. In order to prevent
further
abuse the child is, as a rule, separated from the abuser. If possible,
the child is not separated from the parent who is not an
abuser, so as to avoid
additional victimization of the child. The parent who did not protect his or
her child against harmful action
of other persons, particularly family members,
or who did nothing to protect the child, shall be deprived of the right to live
together
with his or her child and to raise it. Professional workers are
continuously trained in child protection to enable them to provide
adequate
help.
- To
reinforce joint activities of all social actors involved with childcare, the
already mentioned Protocol for inter-agency proceeding
in matters of child
protection against abuse is being prepared.
- Abuse
under Croatian criminal law means physical, emotional or sexual abuse of the
child.
- According
to information furnished by the Ministry of the Interior,
in 2001, 2,572 criminal offences against children and minors were
discovered and
reported, an increase of 26.6 per cent over 2000
when 2,031 such offences were
discovered and reported. These figures also
include 1,768 criminal offences against marriage, family and youth, which
is 6.8 per
cent less than in 2000 (1,898 offences). There
were 341
sexual offences against children and minors, or 19.9 per cent less than in 2000
(426 offences).
- Of
the reported criminal offences against marriage, family and youth there
were 1,224 cases of neglect and abuse of children or minors,
followed
by 408 cases of neglect of the duty to support a child, 66 cases of
prevention and non-application of measures for the protection
of minors, 26
cases of living out of wedlock with minors, 19 cases of abandoning children, 17
cases of abduction of minors, 5 cases
of non-fulfilment of family duties, and 3
cases of changing marital status.
- The
reported sexual offences against children and minors included 106 cases of lewd
activities, followed by 106 cases of gratification
of lust in front of a child,
56 cases of sexual intercourse with a child, 23 cases of pornographic
exploitation of children or minors,
17 cases of rape, 11 cases of procurement, 7
cases of sexual intercourse with a defenceless person, 7 cases of introducing
pornography
to children, and 4 cases of incest. Within this group of criminal
offences the legislator specially emphasized the offences committed
against
children. This provides special protection of the physical integrity of
children who because of their young age and low
level of maturity are often
incapable of grasping the intention of the perpetrator’s action.
- With
regard to the physical and emotional abuse of children the Civil Code provides
prison terms ranging from three months to three
years for the parent, adoptive
parent, guardian or other person who abuses a child, forces it to do work
unsuited to its age or to
engage in excessive work or begging, or who makes a
child behave in a manner harmful to its development. If such activities result
in bodily harm to the child or severe damage to its health, or if the child
takes to begging, prostitution or other form of socially
unacceptable behaviour
or delinquency, the guilty person shall be punished by a prison term ranging
from three months to five years.
- A
criminal offence is constituted by the infliction of any form of physical or
psychological harm on the child and, in contrast to
earlier provisions, even a
single act of abuse or coercion constitutes an offence. As has been the
practice of the courts, the right
of parents or any other person to disciplinary
and pedagogical punishment has been ruled out. In this way the provisions of
article
213 of the Criminal Code are harmonized with those of article 19 of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
VI. BASIC HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL WELFARE
A. Disabled children (art. 23)
- Recognizing
the fact that a harmonious family environment is a basic precondition for
raising children, and that any physical or mental
disability of the child
requires more effort and investment in this important task, the line ministries
in the Republic of Croatia
take specific measures to assist families with
disabled children.
- The
Social Welfare Act, in force since 1 January 1998, defines the specific rights
that such children may exercise on account of their
disability (these rights
were also provided in the Social Protection Act that preceded the Social Welfare
Act). The new law also
introduced the right to disability benefits for children
with severe physical or mental disabilities. Considering the fact that
physical
or mental disability requires more effort in everyday life, incurring additional
material costs, the purpose of this pecuniary
benefit is to help such persons
overcome the difficulties faced by their families.
- The
national programme for the improvement of the quality of life of disabled
persons has been formulated. It deals to a large extent
with the protection of
disabled children. The programme includes proposed activities for the future
with a view to promoting a better
quality of life, developing awareness of the
special needs and effective joint action by the Government and other bodies
involved
with disabled children.
- The
Decree on the Facilities in National Passenger Transportation that granted
discounts to disabled children and persons escorting them when travelling by
train or ship
was incorporated into the National Transport Facilities
Regulations.
- In
1998, a law on the movement of blind people with the help of seeing-eye dogs was
passed. This provided huge assistance to blind
children being able to move
about public facilities and institutions and means of public transportation with
their seeing-eye dogs.
- Social
welfare institutions operating at the local level, as well as associations and
other legal entities and natural persons offering
social welfare services, are
being promptly and fully informed of any changes that concern the amendment and
implementation of specific
regulations in order to facilitate the exercise of
rights of disabled children.
- Despite
the trend to place as few disabled children as possible into institutions and
focusing on other forms of childcare, in cases
where children with physical or
mental disability need to be separated from their families (due to objective
circumstances and when
this is best for their further development), and no
adequate replacement for their family can be found, accommodation in a social
welfare institution is unavoidable. In such cases, the accommodation policy
prefers regional institutions where great attention
is paid to the way of living
that is very similar to a normal family life. Beside investments in raising the
standard of living
of the occupants and providing conditions for extending
various services even outside the institution, since 1996 actions have been
undertaken to accommodate children with physical or mental disability. Two new
social welfare institutions have been established
to care for physically or
mentally disabled children, and the existing institutions, devastated during the
war, have been rebuilt.
- The
capacity of existing institutions has been expanded to include day-care and
professional field services for family assistance,
significantly contributing to
overcoming the difficulties in the everyday life of a family with a disabled
child.
- The
building of two new institutions for mentally retarded persons will provide
various services to disabled children and their parents
(day care, leisure,
training for independent life, psychological and social rehabilitation, field
assistance to families, counselling
for parents).
- We
believe that in these hard post-war times we have achieved some positive results
in improving the standard of living of disabled
children, which leads us to
believe that with the economic recovery the standard of living of these children
will grow even more.
Table 4
Children with special needs (as at 31 December
2001)
|
Age
|
0-3
|
4-7
|
8-14
|
15-16
|
17-18
|
Field assistance
|
11
|
19
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Integration
|
-
|
8
|
76
|
10
|
2
|
Half-day care
|
2
|
43
|
115
|
26
|
26
|
Day care
|
2
|
14
|
150
|
63
|
108
|
Temporary accommodation
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Weekly accommodation
|
-
|
3
|
65
|
24
|
55
|
Permanent accommodation
|
4
|
48
|
436
|
299
|
278
|
Total
|
19
|
136
|
842
|
422
|
469
|
Source: Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
B. Health, health-care services and nutrition (art.
24)
- The
initial report included data related to this article of the Convention, so this
report will only present the changes in the current
reporting period. In
October 2001, the new Health Insurance Act was passed, and entered into force on
1 January 2002.
- In
the Republic of Croatia every child (until the age of 18) has health insurance.
Children are entitled to health insurance mostly
as members of the family of the
insured as pension beneficiaries after the deceased parent, on the basis of
employment or performance
of commercial or non-commercial activity, or on other
basis. Children, as any other insured persons, are entitled to all forms of
health care: primary health care, specialist health care and hospital health
care with adequate medical rehabilitation. The scope
of this right is
determined by the Government for each calendar year.
- In
the Republic of Croatia, the insured participate in the coverage of some of the
costs of health-care services, but children are
exempt from this
obligation.
- Besides
the general health-care measures the system of primary health care and the
public health-care system also take a number of
specific health-care measures
aimed at preschool children, schoolchildren and youth pursuant to special
programmes (e.g. Mandatory
Vaccination against Contagious Diseases, and
Preventive Educational Measures in Schoolchildren and Youth Health Care).
Within the
primary health care there are also specific health-care measures for
the protection of mothers. The Ministry of Health prepared
the National
Programme for the Prevention of Tooth Decay and Improvement of Oral Health of
Children, followed by a pilot project
for the prevention of tooth decay in
kindergarten and preschool children.
- With
a view to improving the structure and efficiency of the system the Ministry of
Health proposed to the Government and Parliament
a draft for the reform of the
health-care system and formed special working groups to prepare a medium-term
operative plan of development
of the health-care system in the Republic of
Croatia. Starting from the indicators and results of medical work in particular
segments
of the system, this plan is an attempt at restructuring and laying the
foundation of a more efficient organization of the health-care
system and
securing the health insurance rights. The activities focus on preventive
action, such as the promotion of a healthy way
of life (nutrition,
sport-movement, cigarette and alcohol and drug hazards, responsible sexual
behaviour ...). To this end, special
programmes are being prepared the
implementation of which will include non-medical systems (education, media,
etc.).
- Every
year, the Ministry of Health launches the Programme of Mandatory Vaccination
against Contagious Diseases. It is prescribed
by law that within this programme
children are to be vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough,
polio, measles, mumps,
rubeola and tuberculosis and, since 2001, hepatitis B.
According to data on the vaccination of children the Republic of Croatia
with
more than 90 per cent of its children vaccinated is among the leading European
countries. The reasons for non-vaccination or
delayed vaccination of children
lie primarily in the insufficient care of parents. In this context measures are
being taken to protect
children in implementation of family legislation (e.g.
the social welfare centre issues a warning
- to
parents who fail to bring their children to medical centres for vaccination, and
other measures specified by the law). The legislation
on the protection of the
population against contagious diseases through mandatory vaccination includes
all children living on the
territory of Croatia, irrespective of their health
insurance status.
- At
the National Health Insurance Agency and its regional branches there are
departments for the implementation of educational and
preventive health-care
measures (general medical examinations, vaccinations, health-care education,
promotion of a healthy way of
life) at primary and secondary schools, conducted
by specialists in school medicine.
- There
are a series of activities related to the prevention of AIDS. For instance, the
programme and didactic package for education
about AIDS (Youth tell Youth
about AIDS) was jointly prepared by the Children’s Hospital in Zagreb
and UNICEF and distributed to doctors and teachers. The Ministry
of Health
regularly prepares events on the occasion of the International Day against AIDS,
and the National Programme for the Prevention
of the Spread of AIDS is
continually implemented by the AIDS Reference Centre of the Ministry of
Health.
- Preventive
activities designed to eradicate contagious diseases are systematically
conducted at all educational institutions. The
reproductive health service of
the Children’s Hospital in Zagreb prepared, in collaboration with
secondary school students
(Youth for Youth Programme), a brochure entitled
“AIDS - Do Not Die for Lack of Knowledge”, as a result of fine
cooperation
between the Ministry of Education and Sport and the Ministry of
Health within the framework of the primary health care, through school
doctors,
and within the public health-care system.
- In
school subjects like nature and society, biology, and chemistry, pupils acquire
knowledge about the importance of nutrition for
healthy growth and development
of the whole organism. Genetically modified food is still not common on the
Croatian markets, the
purpose being to warn children to choose healthy
food.
- Croatia
has natural drinking water, and it is necessary to do whatever it takes to
protect nature in order to enable future generations
to enjoy the ecologically
preserved resources. Regrettably, public water supply is not available in all
areas. Insufficient or
inadequate utility infrastructure does not enable equal
accessibility of drinking water to all, particularly on the outskirts of
big
cities, i.e. in underdeveloped counties. This situation calls for the
construction and adjustment of adequate utility infrastructure,
particularly in
the context of the reconstruction of the infrastructure destroyed throughout
Croatia in the war, which will be a
great burden because Croatia has still not
recovered from the devastation caused by war.
- The
Republic of Croatia does not have satisfactory regulations concerning abortion
and, consequently, young girls.
- Andrija
Štampar popular education centre published the Croatian version of the
“Facts of life” with a supplement on the protection of
children from
abuse and neglect. The purpose of this manual is to enlighten the general
public on medical matters.
- A
large number of schools (about 130) conduct health-care programmes, joining the
European network of schools that promote health.
- In
the promotion of breastfeeding (in cooperation with UNICEF) Croatia achieved
internationally respectable results by the end of
1998: out of 32 maternity
wards 15 were awarded the prestigious title of “Children-friendly
Hospitals”. With a view
to improving the growth and development of the
child and preserving the health of mothers “Happy Baby” boxes were
given
away in maternity wards. The contents of the box included the educational
booklet “My First Year” containing expert
practical advice to
mothers about baby and childcare, with an emphasis on the importance of
breastfeeding, for the purpose of promoting
the growth and development of the
child and the health of the mother. Final harmonization of the text with the
International Manual
on the manner of selling substitute for mother’s milk
is under way to bring it in line with the “Children-friendly
Hospitals”
project.
- The
following activities are being undertaken to promote
breastfeeding:
(a) Establishing breastfeeding support groups;
(b) Publishing bulletins with legal provisions that facilitate the exercise
of the right to breastfeeding;
(c) Producing publications (e.g. “Pregnancy and Breastfeeding”,
“Breastfeeding Support Groups”, “Breastfeeding
and Its
Promotion in Children-friendly Hospitals” (18-hour course for maternity
ward staff).
- In
accordance with the activities envisaged in the National Action Plan for
children, thus far the “Child’s Health-care
Book” has been
introduced in 12 out of 21 countries with a view to closely following the growth
and development of children
and their health.
- Drug
addicts represent a population that is quite hidden and it is not easy to
estimate their number.
C. Children in armed conflicts, including physical and mental
recovery
and social reintegration (art. 38, paras. 1 and 4, and art.
39)
- During
the war in the Republic of Croatia about one million children were exposed to
the conflict, and the estimates are that the
war affected the development of
400,000 children who were directly exposed to bombardment, who saw their parents
and beloved ones
die or get wounded, while 50,000 children were directly exposed
to war.
- During
the war in the Republic of Croatia, 303 children were killed. The youngest
victim was a four-month-old boy killed in an artillery
attack on the Grabovac
motel near Slunj where he was accommodated together with other displaced persons
from the region of Lika.
During the Independence War, 1,280 children were
wounded, of whom 315 have remained permanently disabled (amputation, CNS damage,
nerve lesion, eye wounds, etc.). Of the total number of children mentioned, 52
are permanently dependent on the care and assistance
of others, being 80-100 per
cent disabled. In the same period, 4,455 children lost a parent, while 131
children lost both parents,
and 900 children still do not know the fate of their
parents (one or both parents are missing). There is one more group of children,
63 in all, who lost all parental care when they
- lost
a parent. Those are children whose other parent died, is missing or unknown, or
was deprived of the right to parental care through
a decision of the competent
social welfare centre. These figures relate to children who were victimized in
the period from the beginning
of the War of Independence to 30 June 1996. The
figures were supplemented and updated in 1997 and 1998.
- The
Ministry for Independence War Veterans was established in December 1997. Within
the Ministry there is a Childcare Department
that does the administrative work
concerning the legal status and other issues related to the children of Croatian
defenders who
were killed in action, died, were imprisoned or are missing, of
the disabled war veterans, and of the demobilized war veterans, monitors
their
situation and legal status and undertakes other systematic and effective
measures to improve their status and to enable them
to exercise their legal
rights. The Department keeps records of 36,559 children, of whom 3,896 are
children of the fallen defenders,
260 are children of imprisoned/missing
defenders, and 32,403 are children of disabled war veterans.
- Although
no systematic research was conducted into the numerous forms and effects of the
wartime suffering of children, it is quite
certain that of all the victims of
the war children suffered the most severe and long-term physical, psychological
and social consequences.
The long-term consequences are of special importance:
from post-traumatic stress disorder, somatic symptoms, depression, aggression,
to the negative effects on the formation of the child’s own identity, its
outlook on life and moral values.
- Falling
within the competence of the Ministry for Independence War Veterans is also
the implementation of the National Programme for Psychological and Social
Assistance to Independence War Victims, adopted by the Government
on 28 January
1999. The purpose of the programme was to organize continuing psychological and
social assistance as a part of integral
care for the victims throughout Croatia.
Special attention was paid to child victims.
- The
National Programme is now implemented through county centres for psychological
and social assistance whose treatment usually includes
four categories of child
victims of the war: child war victims, children of disabled war veterans,
children of fallen Croatian defenders,
and children of demobilized Croatian
defenders. Within the regular programme of psychological and social assistance
an anamnesis
of each individual participant is made that gives an insight into
the psychological and social problems caused by the war trauma
and manifested
through disorders for which children are treated. It is also important to see
whether the process of grieving has
been successfully completed, whether
relations with the surroundings, i.e. the family, are disturbed, and to what
extent is the understanding
of the problem provided.
- Childcare
is provided through individual therapy, group work, children’s playshops
(art and music), hotline for psychological assistance to children, and
through the work of field teams. The most common problems
of child victims of
the war noticed by field workers are: behavioural disorders, adaptation
disorders, poor school performance,
insecurity, aggression, bed-wetting, tics
and fear.
- From
12 to 14 November 1999 at Plitvice, the Ministry for Independence War Veterans
organized a seminar on psychological and social
assistance to the victims of the
war, where it
- was
concluded that the work of the Centre for Psychological and Social Assistance
should focus on family and children and, consequently,
that a seminar on the
problems of children and a programme of assistance to children was to be
urgently organized.
- Based
on the Minister’s decision, a Working Group of the Ministry for
Independence War Veterans was set up to prepare and implement
a strategy of
scientific research. This Working Group prepared an action plan, a programme
and methodology for the implementation
of all research according to a long-term
plan of priorities. Consequently, the Working Group concluded that in research
conducted
on subgroups of victims the priority should be given to the project of
“Psychological and medical state of child victims of
the war” to be
implemented at the National Centre for Psychological Trauma established pursuant
to the National Programme at
the Dubrava Clinical Hospital in Zagreb. The
purpose of the project is to establish the number and the problems of child
victims
of the war, and on the basis of such information plan activities to
secure their normal development.
- Over
the past years, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, in cooperation with
and with financial assistance from UNICEF, has
implemented several important
projects with a view to helping children and youth in areas exposed to heavy
destruction during the
war. The following projects were carried
out:
(a) Protection of children under the family law, a project
aimed at enhancing the professional competence of the social welfare staff
for
the purpose of improving their work;
(b) Prevention and treatment of behavioural disorders in child victims of the
war, including seminars in various regions of Croatia
for the social welfare
staff, rehabilitation institutions, schools and police, with a view to
identifying specific forms and manifestations
of behaviour of child victims of
the war and devising new approaches to working with children and their
families;
(c) Assistance to children and youth in the post-war period, with seminars
focusing on training professionals to work with children
with behavioural
disorders;
(d) Setting up a psychological crisis team with a view to creating a network
of professionals who can effectively respond to post-war
psychological crises of
children and youth that occur as a result of tragedies and unexpected
losses;
(e) Strengthening children’s families living in destitution, an
educational project that focused on training professionals in
systematic family
therapy in cases of treatment of a large number of children and their parents
who live in destitution;
(f) Planning care for the children from Knin, Benkovac, Obrovac and
Drniš - areas of special government concern, where there
is a need for
additional protection of children.
- Social
security, assistance and facilities in childcare
(arts. 26 and 18,
paras. 2 and 3)
- Pursuant
to the Social Welfare Act it is the family that is primarily responsible for
caring for its members. Every person is under
an obligation to contribute with
his or her work, income and property to the prevention, elimination or
mitigation of his or her
own destitution and the destitution of his or her
family members, particularly the children and other family members who cannot
care
for themselves. This Act foresees that the State should assist needy
families to overcome crisis situations of destitution both
in material and other
(mediation, counselling, etc.) aspects.
- The
Labour Act, in force since 1 January 1996, provides in article 66 that one of
the parents of a child with severe development disorders
shall be entitled to
childcare leave or to work half-time until the child turns 7. The compensation
for the leave shall be paid
by the social welfare. All this makes it obvious
that the regulations of the Republic of Croatia are aimed at the protection of
the right of the child to live with its parents even when they suffer
deprivation, provided they are capable of caring for it, and,
in such case, the
State shall assist the parents through various forms of social welfare, e.g.
subsistence benefits, fuel benefits,
assistance in purchasing textbooks for the
school, etc.
- With
regard to the Committee’s concern regarding the Provisional Property
Possession Act according to which property may be
temporarily occupied by
settlers while the owner is absent, because of the possibility that the families
affected by this Act may
have problems
if they return before the current
temporary occupants have found other accommodation, we should like to point out
that the war in
Croatia resulted in the destruction of 30 per cent of
its economic facilities. In total, 590 places were destroyed, among which
was
Vukovar - a
medium-sized city, razed to the ground. According to estimates,
174,000 housing units,
551 schools, 31 factories and 536 churches were
devastated. Vital infrastructure suffered
serious damage. From 1991
to 1995, the war in Croatia resulted in damage estimated
at HRK 164.86
billion, or 20.61 billion euros (about 1.5 per cent of the current annual GDP),
of which damage to homes accounts for
HRK 21.1 billion, or 2.64 billion
euros.
- The
Republic of Croatia has from the very beginning done everything in its power to
accommodate displaced and refugee families until
their homes are rebuilt and
they could return. There are certain considerations that need to be taken into
account when considering
the matter referred to in the conclusions of the
Committee, and the circumstances after the liberation of the areas of Croatia
that
were under occupation need to be mentioned. At that time (1995), much of
the then abandoned property had to be preserved and legally
protected. A part
of the abandoned property was owned by the Serbs - Croatian citizens who left
the territory of the Republic of
Croatia. With a view to protecting such
property the Law on Temporary Takeover and Management of Certain Property was
passed.
- The
property was temporarily allocated for the use of displaced persons, refugees
and returnees (inhabitants of the respective areas)
whose property was destroyed
or damaged in the war, irrespective of their ethnic origin. As a result of the
insistence of the international
community, and primarily with a view to
complying with the provision of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia
relating to the protection of ownership rights, some provisions of the
abovementioned Law were repealed
by the decision of the Constitutional Court of
the
Republic of Croatia of 26 September 1997. After the decision of the
Constitutional Court to repeal articles 8, 9, paragraph 2, and
11,
paragraph 2, of the Act, the House of Representatives of the Croatian Parliament
on 10 July 1998 passed the Law on the Termination
of the Law on Temporary
Takeover and Management of Certain Property, as well as the Law on the
Termination of the Law on Leasing
Flats in Liberated Areas. These laws were
published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia (Narodne
novine No. 101 of 28 July 1998).
- Under
such circumstances the need for eviction of the provisionally accommodated
families and their children became even more pressing.
It is important to note
that although the Republic of Croatia does everything in its power to complete
the process of return without
any conditions and in cooperation with the
international community, the return of the Croat and Bosniak refugees to the
neighbouring
States (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina)
is progressing very slowly. Needless to say, most of them are
children. The
Republic of Croatia is aware of its duty to accommodate displaced and refugee
families until their homes are rebuilt,
i.e. until they return to their homes,
as well as of the duty to enable the rightful owners to return to their occupied
homes.
- The
issue of the accommodation of displaced persons, refugees and resettled persons
is regulated through the 1998 Programme of Return
and Accommodation of Displaced
Persons, Refugees and Resettled Persons, the 1996 Law on the Areas of Special
Government Concern,
amended in 1996, 1997 and 2000, and the Decree on
Accommodation Requirements and Criteria in Areas of Special Government Concern.
According to these regulations, accommodation may be had through a lease of a
family house or a State-owned flat, a grant of State-owned
building land and
basic building materials for the building of a family house, and through an
allocation of building material for
the reconstruction and rebuilding of a
family house or a flat. Efforts are being made to direct the activities of
government agencies
towards caring for children from all families without
distinction - those who want to use their own home, and those who use another
family’s home because they lost their own home in the war. It is,
therefore, necessary to approach the return of such persons
to their homes in a
systematic manner, which means creating conditions for a family to return to a
vacated home. Regrettably, it
is not possible to implement the programme right
away; it is a process that will take some time depending on the financial
ability
of the Republic of Croatia to remove the negative effects of the
war.
E. Standard of living (art. 27, paras.
1-3)
- With
a per capita income of US$ 4,500, the Republic of Croatia ranks second among the
republics of the former Yugoslavia. The structure
of the Croatian GDP is
similar to that in Western European countries. Social indicators like infant
mortality rate, literacy rate
or life expectancy are similar to those in other
European countries. The system of social transfers is one of the most extensive
in the region.
- War
and transition recession have contributed to an extremely grave economic crisis.
Between 1990 and 1993, GDP plummeted by nearly
30 per cent. In October 1993,
the Government launched a stabilization programme that proved to be the most
successful one throughout
the region. In spite of this success Croatian GDP is
currently only 78 per cent of the 1989 level. Industrial production showed
even
more negative trends, and by 1999 remained at 40 per cent of the 1989
level. Croatia has the largest public sector among all
Central European
countries which, unlike the situation in other countries, shows a tendency to
grow. Excluding administrative expenses
from the total social welfare
expenditures, all levels of the State
spent 26.4 per cent of GDP
on social programmes (education, employment, unemployment benefits, social
welfare, pensions and health
care, war-related expenditures, including
reconstruction) in 1999, or about 50 per cent of the total public
spending.
- In
overall social transfers, pensions are the biggest item, and the amount of
social transfers depends on the amount of pension benefits.
Although Croatia
spends a lot on social programmes, primarily on the health-care system and
pensions (especially early retirement
benefits), this does not do much for the
poor. On the other hand, government social transfers are better directed, yet
they represent
a much smaller share in the general spending pattern.
Croatia’s social welfare focuses on the very poor, while most of the
countries in transition
focus on those below the poverty line.
VII. EDUCATION, LITERACY AND CULTURE
- School
education, including practical training and guidance,
and educational
goals (arts. 28 and 29)
- The
initial report presented the basic data concerning the implementation of these
provisions of the Convention, so this report will
- besides current statistical
indicators as to the number and structure of schools and teachers (2001
Statistical Bulletin) - also
give a brief account of the education of children
in human rights, i.e. in the rights of the child.
- During
the school year 1999/2000, there were 2,147 primary schools with 18,180 classes
and 26,921 teachers of whom 20,609 were women.
In the same school year, there
were 633 secondary schools with 6,960 classes and 192,769 pupils of whom
92,376 were girls. Secondary schools employed 19,057 teachers of whom
12,033 were women.
- For
children with development difficulties there were 76 schools with 493 classes
and education groups. Of this number, 54 schools with 330 classes were
primary schools, while 22 were secondary schools with 163 classes.
The primary schools were attended by 2,358 pupils (881 girls), and
the secondary schools by 1,517 pupils (615 girls).
- With
regard to specific education schools note that in Croatia in the school
year 1999/2000 there were 68 primary music and ballet
schools with 11,214
pupils (7,070 girls). These schools employed 1,169 teachers (762
women). Nevertheless, these capacities could not meet the demand of the
children interested in such additional education.
- In
the Republic of Croatia there are State and private schools. In State
schools education is provided free of charge, while in private schools it is
provided against payment of a fee, so private
schools are mostly attended by the
pupils of well-to-do parents.
- School
curricula do not contain any obligation for the pupils to join humanitarian
activities or environmental groups as a desirable
influence on their
development, not even as a form of disciplinary measures.
- The
Government of the Republic of Croatia is developing a policy of systematic
approach to the exercise of human rights and democracy
on the basis of the
Constitution and the Constitutional Law on Human Rights and Freedoms and the
Rights of Ethnic or National Communities and Minorities in the Republic
of
Croatia, as well as on the basis of all relevant
- instruments
and recommendations of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, in
particular on the Recommendation concerning Education
for International
Understanding, Cooperation, Peace and Education relating to Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms (Paris, 1974),
and the Integrated Framework of Action on
Education for Peace, Human Rights and Democracy.
- In
1996, the National Committee for Human Rights Education was set up. The
National Committee is an advisory body of the Government of the Republic of
Croatia tasked with preparing the National Programme
of Human Rights and Civil
Responsibility Education and with encouraging and monitoring its
implementation. To be able to perform this task the National Committee
established numerous coordinating groups composed of top Croatian experts in
human rights education, peace, democracy and civic responsibility.
- These
coordinating groups are concerned with preschool education, junior classes of
primary schools, senior classes of primary schools,
secondary schools, civic
education, university education, adult education, use of media, a task force for
preparing a strategy and
implementation of the National Programme throughout the
country, and another task force for monitoring the implementation of the
National Programme.
- In
1997, a research project entitled “Peace and Human Rights Education for
Croatian Primary Schools” was launched in cooperation
between the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the
Government of Croatia.
- The
National Programme for Human Rights and Peace Education was published in 1999
with the financial support of the Office of the
High Commissioner for Human
Rights in Zagreb. That same year, it was distributed to all educational
facilities in Croatia, from pre-school institutions to secondary schools, four
copies per institution (1,800 institutions).
- On
the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the Ministry of Education and Sport printed
a poster with the text of
the Declaration for all educational facilities in Croatia. The poster
was displayed visibly in schools and kindergartens so that children, their
parents and teachers could get acquainted with
its content.
- Within
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization project
“Education for Peace and Human Rights”,
a brochure entitled
“Basic international documents in the field of human rights
education” was translated into Croatian
and published, and, together with
the National Programme, sent to all educational facilities. Among these
documents were also the Recommendation and Integrated Framework (see
para. 293 above).
- Within
the Croatian Helsinki Watch a book by Th. Burgenthal entitled International
Human Rights was translated and published, the aim being to promote the
principles from the above-mentioned documents, Recommendation and Integrated
Framework.
- For
the purpose of implementing the National Programme systematic training of
teachers and teachers’ trainers was organized. In 2000, a
professional training course was organized by the Institute for the Advancement
of School System, with the financial and
expert assistance of the National
Committee for Human Rights Education and the NGO Human Rights Education
- Associates
from the Netherlands, which included a three-day seminar attended by about
720 teachers and teachers’ trainers, school
principals and
representatives of the local school boards. Besides these seminars various
NGOs, in cooperation with the Ministry
of Education and Sport, organized within
their own projects training for teachers throughout the year, so that
professional training
in human rights education and democracy was attended by
more than 1,000 teachers and teachers’ trainers a year, in
addition
to regular and additional professional training.
- The
implementation of the National Programme in the educational facilities is
progressing with the assistance of numerous international
and national NGOs.
This is reflected in the implementation of various projects in the field of
human rights education and civic
responsibility, peaceful settlement of
conflicts, acquisition of democratic civil skills, cooperation and tolerance,
and protection
from landmines, among others.
- It
should be noted that there is not enough sport in the school curricula, because
schools are poorly equipped with adequate facilities
(swimming pools, tracks,
halls, playgrounds, etc.).
B. Leisure activities of children (art. 31)
- Every
public library in the Republic of Croatia has a children’s section,
reading rooms and playrooms. The Ministry of Culture provides funds for
the operation of libraries, restocking and protection of the libraries’
stock, and,
consequently, for the purchase of toys, furniture, children’s
books, etc. In the Republic of Croatia the number of school libraries
(1,671 in 1989: 1,568 in primary and 203 in secondary schools) decreased
after
the war (1,023 libraries in 1995, of which 749 in primary schools, while the
number of libraries in secondary schools increased
to 273).
According to the latest published statistics for 1998 the situation is
improving, and in that year there were 944 libraries in primary
schools and 317
in secondary schools.
- Every
year, the Ministry of Culture sends out applications for financing cultural
activities in Croatia. Among others, art institutions, museums and
galleries send in their applications and present their programmes.
- The
Ministry of Culture co-finances festivals and children’s and youth events
in the field of cultural and artistic child amateurism
(music, dance, theatrical
performance). From 1996 to 2001, the Ministry financially supported
the participation of young Croatian artists in seven international festivals
(Mexico City, Mostar, Egypt, Turin, Rome, Madrid and Zagreb).
- Within
the National Film Association there are 47 registered children’s film and
video clubs, as well as 31 clubs of secondary
school youth and students and a
number of individual film and video authors. As part of its international
activities the Association
regularly appears at the UNICA World Festival and
organizes the presentation of the Croatian amateur cinema and video art abroad.
The National Film Association organizes the Review of Croatian
Children’s and Youth Film and Video Efforts (the authors are secondary
school pupils, and older). Every year, a traditional International Animated
Film Workshop is held in
Čakovec.
- In
order to promote the media culture curricula in schools the National Film
Association prepared a Programme of Optional Teaching
in Media Culture, and a
programme of work of film and video clubs. In 1999, the Ministry of Culture
allocated HRK 400,000 to co-financing
the National Film Association.
- In
Croatia there are 11 children’s theatres with 1,935 plays seen by an
audience of 337,000 in 2000. In the same year, there
were 17 registered
amateur theatres with 546 plays seen by an audience of 90,000.
VIII. SPECIAL MEASURES FOR THE PROTECTION OF CHILDREN
- The
basic information with regard to the respective articles of the Convention was
presented in the initial report, so this report
will only dwell on the major
changes in legislation and practice.
- In
various areas of public life the State has ensured protection of the basic human
rights, particularly of children. There are,
however, certain issues related to
children that continue to give cause for concern in Croatia.
- In
spite of the measures taken to facilitate the transition Croatia is undergoing,
the prevailing situation still greatly affects
the population, particularly
vulnerable groups, including children. The war brutally affected all people, in
particular children,
and caused great suffering, long-term physical, emotional
and psychological effects, and disruption in the operation of some basic
services.
- Many
children experienced the violation of their most fundamental right - the right
to life, and there is still a large number of
refugees and displaced persons in
the country. The combination of the effects of war and the economic crisis has
aggravated the
situation of the most vulnerable group of children in Croatia.
The social welfare system reports increased workload and insufficient
funds to
meet all the needs of the population in adversity. The policy and strategy of
providing assistance to children who are
in the care of the State are being
revised, and society at large is encouraged to join in the process of
development of extra-institutional
care for children with specific needs. This
calls for a careful assessment of all issues and a detailed discussion at all
levels
and with all relevant actors. Pilot projects need to be prepared to
develop new services for children and additional training to
all those involved
with childcare in order to increase the efficiency of the services offered and
prevent the exhaustion of the helpers.
- Children
were direct victims of violence in the war. About 1 million children
in the
Republic of Croatia were exposed to the war, and some 200,000 were directly
exposed to its horrors: bombardment, death or injuries or torture of their
parents or beloved ones. Of 1,500 missing persons 35
are children; about 4,455
children lost one parent
and 131 children both parents. As at 1 January
2001, the Refugee, Returnee and Displaced Persons Administration recorded 53,079
displaced
persons and refugees:
30,647 displaced persons, of whom
6,985 children;
22,432 refugees, of whom 3,879 children.
- In
the last three years, activities concerning the improvement of childcare have
been conducted throughout Croatia. UNICEF helped
train social welfare staff and
teachers through the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare and the Ministry of
Education. The activities
included employees of the social welfare
institutions, kindergartens, primary schools, libraries and refugee
centres.
- Croatia
also strove to meet its commitments undertaken at the World Summit for Social
Development, held in Copenhagen, and the Fourth
World Conference on Women, held
in Beijing, of which many were related to the rights of the child. In late
1997, the Government
adopted the National Policy for the Promotion of Gender
Equality.
- The
National Action Plan for Children, aiming at better meeting children’s
needs in all spheres of life, the provision of adequate
conditions for
appropriate growth and development of children in extremely difficult
situations, and enabling talented children to
express and develop their
capabilities was adopted by the Government on 1 October 1998.
- It
is important to note that in September 1999 the Programme “Integration of
refugee and returnee children into Croatian society:
creative socialization of
groups” was carried out in the cities of Sinj, Hrvatska Kostajnica and
Dvor under the sponsorship
of the Council of Europe. To implement this
programme the Government of the Republic of Croatia supported the proposal for
setting
up a Steering Committee of the competent government agencies and the
Embassy of Local Democracy in Sisak.
A. Children in emergency situations
1. Refugee children
(art. 22)
- The
basic information concerning the status of refugees and displaced persons and
the legislation relating to them were presented
in the initial report, so this
report will only dwell on the current situation in Croatia.
- Although
the war ended in 1995, and the whole territory of the Republic of Croatia
has now been liberated and the process of reconstruction
and return of
displaced
persons has begun, currently there are still 30,647
displaced persons (6,985 children)
and 22,432
refugees (3,879 children) in Croatia.
- In
Croatia there are currently about 140,000 citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (of
whom only 22,000 with refugee status, while others
lost that status on acquiring
Croatian citizenship), about 30,000 refugees from the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (of whom some
had refugee status for a while, and others never
applied for such status), and 1,600 refugees from Kosovo (in 1999, during
the Kosovo
crisis, there were 4,057 refugees, of whom about 1,000 returned
in an organized manner and many more returned spontaneously).
- As
at 30 December 2000, there were 267,763 returnees to Croatia, of
whom 39,051 children. Of this number, 77,846 returnees were Croatian
citizens of Serb ethnic origin, while 189,917 returnees were former
displaced persons who stayed in other, nonoccupied parts of Croatia.
- A
significant number of displaced persons and refugees are yet to return to their
homes. Their return is subject to the resolution
of the reconstruction and
repossession issues. For some of these accommodation needs to be provided
pursuant to the Law on the Areas
of Special Government Concern.
- The
care for displaced persons and refugees, besides accommodation, includes food,
health care and education and a monthly allowance
for meeting basic needs.
- For
some children the exile has lasted from the very beginning of the Serb
aggression against Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina,
and since that time
Croatia has accommodated 600,000 refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina
alone.
- Refugee
children are frequently highly traumatized, and the way of life, often in
difficult housing conditions and destitution, the
feeling of insecurity and
continual dissatisfaction of their families affect children most. To remedy
this situation, after the
war various activities were organized and implemented
not only to relieve the material hardship but also as special measures and
forms
of protection for this group of children. Special mention should be made of the
implementation of the Programme for Psychological
and Social Assistance to the
Victims of the War considering the fact that in 2000 there were as many as
15,208 children with mental
disorders and 8,500 children with behavioural
disorders.
- Even
at the local level (counties) counselling centres have been set up to provide
psychological and social assistance, and field
teams were deployed and a number
of activities were organized with the support of various humanitarian
organizations. All this helps
parents raise children traumatized by the war,
through multidisciplinary expert approach. Important assistance to these
children
is also made available through the work of associations.
- In
spite of the relief measures, the period of transition Croatia is undergoing
gravely affects the population, particularly vulnerable
groups, including
children.
2. Children in armed conflicts (art. 38)
- During
the War of Independence, 303 children were killed in Croatia, of whom 74 by
landmines. The youngest war victim was a four-month-old
boy killed in an
artillery attack on the Grabovac Motel near Slunj, where he was accommodated
with other displaced persons from the
Lika region.
- With
regard to the initial report submitted in 1996 and the section on conscription
and the procedure of recruitment, legal provisions
have been amended (2002
Defence Act) and no one is called to service before they have turned 18.
- Occasionally,
terminological misunderstandings arise concerning the English translation of the
term “conscription”. In
Croatia conscription includes registration
and complete medical examination to establish the health status of a future
conscript,
and this is conducted much before calling a conscript to service.
Children may not be called to service.
- Since
1 January 1996, additional measures have been undertaken to train the
professional staff (psychologists) in offering psychological
support to members
of the armed forces who had various traumatic experiences during the war. The
presence of a military psychologist
in almost every army unit makes it possible
to provide psychological support for members of the armed forces, which improves
the
quality of family relations and, consequently, the position of children
within the families of army recruits. Psychological support
and prevention of
the consequences of a traumatic experience are provided in accordance with a
special programme for Psychological
Prevention of Extraordinary Events (February
1995) amended through a Programme of Psychological Prevention of Addiction in
the Armed
Forces from October 1999. In November 1999, professional education of
all psychologists in the armed forces of the Republic of Croatia
was conducted
with a view to training them on how to implement the Programme of Psychological
Prevention of Addiction in the Armed
Forces.
- Pursuant
to the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child
on the
initial report of Croatia (CRC/C/15/Add.52, para. 24), the education curricula
of noncommissioned and commissioned officers
of the armed forces of the Republic
of Croatia now include topics relating to international law of war and the
treatment of civilians
in armed conflicts. Within this education the following
issues are dealt with:
(a) General principles and starting points of
the Geneva and the Hague Conventions;
(b) Basic prohibitions concerning the objective, weapons and tactics of the
armed forces;
(c) Proper treatment of prisoners of war and other prisoners and members of
protected categories.
- The
European Conference on the Use of Children as Soldiers (Berlin,
1820 October 1999) was also attended by two representatives of
the
Ministry of
Defence of the Republic of Croatia, which constitutes
another contribution to the monitoring of the implementation of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child. One representative of the Ministry of Defence of
the Republic of Croatia is a member of the National
Committee for Human Rights
Education of the Government of the Republic of Croatia.
B. Protection of children with socially unacceptable
behaviour
under family and penal law (arts. 40 and 37, paras.
(a)-(d))
- In
2001, there were 915 criminal offences committed by 633 criminally
non-responsible children, an increase of 37.18 per cent in criminal
offences and
47.21 per cent in the number of children who committed them, as compared with
2000 when 667 criminal offences were committed
by 430 criminally non-responsible
children.
- In
2001, there were also 5,379 criminal offences committed by 3,485 criminally
responsible minors, representing an increase of 21.53
per cent in criminal
offences, 25.13 per cent in the number of minors who committed them,
as compared with 2000 when 4,426 criminal
offences committed by 2,785
criminally responsible minors were reported.
- The
crimes committed by children and minors in 2001 amounted to 6,294,
or 23.58 per cent more than in 2000 when a total of 5,093
criminal
offences committed by children and minors were recorded. The number of
children and minors involved in these crimes
- was
4,118, an increase of 28.09 per cent compared with 2000 when 3,215 children and
minors were reported to have committed criminal
offences. The crimes committed
by children in Croatia accounted for 8.03 per cent of the total number of crimes
recorded in 2001.
- According
to the new Criminal Code the application of penal legislation is excluded when
it comes to a child who at the moment of
committing a criminal offence was under
14. Accordingly, children up to 14 years of age cannot be prosecuted as
criminal offenders.
- In
the case of asocially unacceptable behaviour of a child offender below the age
of 14 the provisions of the Family Act for the protection
of children are
applicable. Criminal legislation in Croatia has separate substantive law and
procedural provisions for child offenders
and persons between 18 and 21 years of
age.
- As
mentioned earlier on 1 January 1998 the new Juvenile Courts Act entered into
force in Croatia. It contains provisions concerning
under-age criminal
offenders, the organization of courts for juveniles and the enforcement of
criminal sanctions against minors.
The Act was subsequently amended. The
following recommendations of the United Nations and the Council of Europe were
incorporated
into the Act: the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the
Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules), the United
Nations
Guidelines for the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency (the Riyadh Guidelines),
the United Nations Minimum Rules for the Protection
of Juveniles Deprived of
their Liberty (the Havana Rules), the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the
1989 Social Response to
Juvenile Delinquency of Persons Coming from Migrant
Families and the 1992 European rules on community sanctions and measures.
- The
basic principles of the criminal proceedings against minors are as
follows:
(a) Criminal proceedings against a minor shall be
instituted for all criminal offences only when requested by the public
prosecutor
who at all stages of the criminal proceedings may drop the
charges;
(b) In the case of minors, as a rule, the principle of criminal prosecution
legality is applied, and in cases specified by the law
the principle of
opportunism as well. In applying the principle of opportunism protective
measures under the family law have priority;
(c) A minor is summoned through his or her parents, i.e. legal guardian, if
practicable considering the urgency of the proceedings
or in case of the gravest
criminal offences;
(d) When interrogating a minor and during other activities at which the minor
is present due account should be taken of the level
of psychological development
and personal characteristics of the minor so that the criminal proceedings do
not affect the development
of his or her personality in general, and the options
provided in amended article 119 of the Juvenile Courts should be used (for
more
details, see paragraph 11 above);
(e) The minor must have an attorney already at the first interrogation if the
proceedings are related to a criminal offence for which
a prison term of more
than three years is foreseen, and in case of other criminal offences for which
less severe punishment is provided
only if the judge estimates that the minor needs an attorney. The attorney
shall be appointed, where possible, from among lawyers
with pronounced affinity
and required knowledge in the education and care for young persons;
(f) A minor may be sentenced to disciplinary measures only when during the
preparatory stage of the proceedings it has been established
that the minor did
commit the criminal offence and after a comprehensive evaluation of his or her
personality. The legislator prescribes
the obligatory obtaining of social
anamnesis and optional observation. An important subject during the proceedings
is a social welfare
representative;
(g) Juvenile courts are under an obligation to notify the social welfare
centres when the facts established during the criminal proceedings
indicate that
measures should be taken for the protection of the rights and welfare of the
minor;
(h) The main hearing should take place in closed session;
(i) A minor cannot be tried in absentia;
(j) The law stresses that prison sentences shall be applied only in
exceptional circumstances;
(k) A minor shall have the right to appeal against any decision of the
court;
(l) The Juvenile Courts Act contains several provisions affirming the
principle of urgency in proceedings involving minors;
(m) In the Republic of Croatia there is no capital punishment.
- The
Juvenile Courts Act provides that cases of criminal offences committed by minors
shall be handled by police officers who have
been specially trained in combating
juvenile crime (art. 66).
- Likewise,
the new Police Act in force since December 2000 provides that children shall be
dealt with by police officers who are specially
trained in suppressing juvenile
delinquency.
- Even
before those two Acts were passed, the Ministry of the Interior,
since 1 January 1996, set up departments/sections/groups of
officers working on juvenile delinquency and criminal offences against children.
These sections are being gradually
staffed with officers with university
education (lawyers, social pedagogues, psychologists, etc.) continuously
educated through seminars.
As part of their education, students at the junior
and senior levels of the Police Academy are also being acquainted with the
Convention
on the Rights of the Child and other international instruments that
stress the principles of protection of children, family and women,
the
prevention of racial discrimination, and mutual respect and understanding.
- The
police authority towards the child is exercised in the presence of his or her
parent or guardian, unless this is impracticable
due to special
circumstances or urgency of the proceeding. The child is summoned by written
summons through his or her parents or
guardian (arts. 24 and 31).
- Pursuant
to the Juvenile Courts Act the proceedings involving minors are conducted by
judges and lawyers specialized in youth matters
who must have pronounced
inclinations towards the education, needs and interests of the youth and be
acquainted with the basics of
criminology, social pedagogy and social welfare
related to young persons (art. 37).
- A
new element in the Act is that courts and public prosecutors dealing with cases
involving minors as criminal offenders have professional
assistants at their
disposal: social pedagogues and social workers. Under the Act, professional
assistants should render professional
assistance to public prosecutors and
judges in juvenile cases (art. 42).
- With
regard to the new procedural provisions concerning juvenile criminal offenders,
the most important are those relating to the
extension of the application of the
principle of purposefulness to minors in connection with the decision of the
public prosecutor
on criminal charges brought against juveniles
(“diversion”).
- The
Juvenile Courts Act provides that in juvenile cases the public prosecutor may
decide not to press criminal charges against a minor
in spite of a justified
suspicion that the minor committed a criminal offence, if the public prosecutor
believes that it would not
be purposeful to institute proceedings against a
minor given the nature of the criminal offence and the circumstances under which
it was committed, the previous life of the minor and his or her personal
characteristics.
- A
particular novelty in the Act is the so-called conditional purposefulness
(“purposefulness with consequence”) allowing
the public prosecutor
in juvenile cases to
decide not to institute proceedings, depending on the
readiness of the minor:
(a) Within his or her capabilities to make
good or repair the damage caused by the criminal offence committed;
(b) To join the work of humanitarian organizations, or the community or
environmental work;
(c) To join individual or group work at the counselling centre for youth.
- The
new Juvenile Courts Act added to the list of sanctions new individual
educational measures - special obligations (so-called ambulant,
i.e. alternative
sanctions): that the minor shall apologize to the affected party; that the
minor shall regularly attend school;
that the minor shall not miss work; that
the minor shall be trained in jobs adequate to his/her abilities and
inclinations; that
the minor shall accept a job and maintain it; that the minor
shall join the work of humanitarian organizations, or community or environmental
work; that the minor shall refrain from frequenting particular places or
engaging in certain activities or to stay away from the
company of
particular persons that have bad influence on him or her; that the minor shall -
with the approval of the minor’s
legal guardian - undergo professional
medical treatment or the procedure for putting him/her off drugs or other
addiction; that the
minor shall join individual or group work at a youth
counselling centre; that the minor shall not leave - without special permission
of a social welfare centre - the place of residence for a long period of time,
or that the minor shall be sent to an authorized authority
for a test in traffic
rules.
- With
regard to the above-mentioned sanctions the Ministry of Labour and Social
Welfare of the Republic of Croatia published, in cooperation
with the UNICEF
Office for Croatia, a list of institutions in the Republic of Croatia where
these special obligations are to be exercised.
- Under
the Juvenile Courts Act (art. 73) a child may be placed in custody only in
extreme situations, depending on the gravity of the
offence and the expected
sanction, and the custody shall be imposed for the shortest period, if its
purpose cannot be achieved through
any alternative measures (caution measures or
temporary placement of the child in a social welfare institution).
- With
regard to the juvenile prison term punishment the legislator introduced in the
Juvenile Courts Act the phrase “withheld
juvenile prison term
sentence”, to enable a court to decide, that although the minor is guilty
of a criminal offence, the juvenile
prison term sentence be withheld when the
court believes that just bringing the “guilty” verdict and the
threat of subsequent
sentencing may put the offender off further criminal
offences. The court may decide that the minor be subsequently sentenced to
a
juvenile prison term if during the period set by the court - which cannot be
shorter than one year or longer than three years (probation)
- the minor should
commit another criminal offence or if he/she opposes the implementation of
educational measures (art. 27).
- Pursuant
to article 136 of the Juvenile Courts Act the Minister of Justice issued a
decision on setting up a commission for monitoring
and improving the work of the
bodies conducting criminal proceedings and enforcing juvenile sanctions. The
Commission monitors juvenile
crime trends, cooperates with competent
associations, and prepares and proposes to the Ministry of Justice programmes
for periodical
professional seminars, tests and other forms of additional
professional training of judges, public prosecutors and other professional
staff
involved in the juvenile delinquency matters. The Commission also follows legal
regulations and provides expertise and proposals
to the Minister of Justice with
a view to amending laws and implementing regulations. In 2000, the Commission
held two seminars
for juvenile court judges and public prosecutors and analysed
the duration of the criminal proceedings involving minors, that is
the duration
of criminal proceedings for violent offences committed against children. The
analysis was prepared with a view to improving
work and was forwarded to the
public prosecutor and to the courts authorized by the Juvenile Courts Act to
deal with cases involving
minors. The Commission also proposed several
amendments to various legal provisions in the interest of the child.
- The
purpose of imposing sanctions against minors is to promote their education,
develop their personality and reinforce their personal
responsibility through
the provision of protection, care, assistance and supervision, as well as
general and professional education.
Over the current reporting period, the
proceedings against minors were suspended in 80 per cent of the cases by virtue
of the implementation
of the principle of opportunism.
- According
to the Juvenile Courts Act, passed in 1997 and amended in 1998 and 2002,
sanctions against the minors (persons between 14
and 18 years of age) decided by
the court should include educational measures, prison term, and security
measures (art. 4). The
Act mentions the word “education” in several
places, and the term itself indicates the purpose of the sanctions. The
legislator thus prescribes that the purpose of educational measures and the
- juvenile
prison term is to influence the education of the minor through development of
his/her whole personality and strengthening
of his/her personal responsibility
by providing him/her with protection, care, assistance and supervision and
general and professional
education. This means that sanctions against
juveniles, beside being specifically educative, are generally intended to
prevent crimes.
- The
Act provides three types of educational measures:
(a) Measures of
warning, direction, or other appropriate measures: court reprimand, special
obligations, and sending off to an educational
centre;
(b) Measures of increased supervision: increased care and supervision, and
increased care and supervision plus daily attendance of
an educational
institution;
(c) Institutional educational measures: sending off the juvenile offender to
an educational institution or to a special education
institution.
- In
a departure from the earlier practice the legislator prescribed that the
institutional measures should only be applied as the ultimate
means (ultima
ratio), which means that in selecting the sanction non-institutional
measures should have priority. The principle of subsidiarity is more
strongly
emphasized in the implementation of educational measures, according to which no
educational measure of intensive treatment,
i.e. separation from the milieu in
which the minor lives, shall be pronounced, if educational purpose can be
achieved without it
or with less intensive educational measures.
- Special
obligations occupy a very special position among the juvenile criminal
sanctions. In order not to stigmatize the minor and
not to impose on him/her
institutional measures, an alternative had to be found: “compensation,
public service, subjection
to increased care and social training”.
According to the Juvenile Courts Act, 13 separate obligations may be imposed on
a
minor: that a minor shall apologize to the affected party; that the minor
shall regularly attend school; that the minor shall not
miss work; that the
minor shall be trained in jobs adequate to his/her abilities and inclinations;
that the minor shall accept a
job and maintain it; that the minor shall join the
work of humanitarian organizations or community or environmental work; that the
minor shall refrain from frequenting particular places or engaging in certain
activities or to stay away from the company of particular
persons that have bad
influence on the minor; that the minor shall - with the approval of the
minor’s legal guardian - undergo
professional medical treatment or the
procedure for putting him/her off drugs or other addictions; that the minor
shall join individual
or group work at a youth counselling centre; that the
minor shall not leave - without special permission of a social welfare
centre
- the place of residence for a long period of time, or that the minor
shall be sent to a recognized authority for a test in traffic
rules.
- Particular
importance is attached to the provision that in selecting obligations the court
shall take into account the willingness
of the minor to cooperate in their
fulfilment and that the obligations be appropriate for the minor and the
circumstances in which
he/she lives (art. 9, para.
3).
- Among
the sanctions the juvenile prison term punishment is the only real punitive
measure and, as such, the last resort of the juvenile
penal law. The legislator
defined the juvenile prison term punishment as the ultimate measure of
deprivation of freedom with special
conditions as to the sentencing, duration,
purpose and content of this sanction. The court may pass this sentence against
an older
minor (person between 16 and 18 years of age) for a criminal offence
for which the Act prescribes a prison term of five years or
more, if,
considering the characteristics and grave nature of the offence, as well as the
extent of the share in the guilt, such
punishment needs to be meted out.
- The
sentence passed may not entail a prison term shorter than six months or longer
than five years. Only in case of a criminal offence
for which long-term prison
sentence is prescribed or in case of concurrence of at least two criminal
offences for which a prison
term longer than 10 years is provided, may
a minor be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison.
- According
to the statistics of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office table 5 below
gives a breakdown of criminal sanctions
passed against minors in the
Republic of Croatia between 1998 and 2001.
Table 5
Juvenile sanctions, 1998-2001
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
2001
|
Non-institutional
|
473
|
85.5
|
604
|
85.3
|
715
|
85.8
|
719
|
82.5
|
Institutional
|
63
|
11.3
|
85
|
12.0
|
98
|
11.7
|
118
|
13.5
|
Juvenile prison term
|
9
|
1.6
|
9
|
1.3
|
10
|
1.2
|
10
|
1.1
|
Withheld juvenile prison term
|
8
|
1.4
|
10
|
1.4
|
10
|
1.2
|
24
|
2.7
|
Total
|
553
|
100
|
708
|
100
|
833
|
100
|
871
|
100
|
- It
is evident from these figures that in the current reporting period the courts in
most cases (82.5-85.8 per cent) imposed non-institutional
educational measures,
followed by institutional educational measures (11.7-12.0 per cent), while in
only 10 cases the courts passed
juvenile prison term sentences. Withheld
juvenile prison term sentence was passed on 24 minors at the most.
- With
regard to the security measures as penal sanctions, together with educational
measures or juvenile prison term, the security
measures of compulsory
psychological treatment, compulsory treatment of addiction, expulsion of an
alien from the country and seizure
of items, and the security measure of
prohibition to drive motor vehicles may be applied.
- Juvenile
prison punishment has been retained as a special type of sentence that may be
passed on a minor who is 16 and older for the
gravest criminal offences, from a
minimum of 6 months to a maximum of 10 years. The main purpose of the
juvenile prison term is
to make
the minor capable of living out free in accordance with social conventions.
The law provides for some of the basic rights of convicted
minors while serving
their prison terms: professional education, work, enabling and encouraging
minor’s contacts with the
outside world, sport activities, and providing
conditions for meeting religious needs. These rights actually make up the basis
for
the treatment of minors serving their prison term. The importance of
professional training of the staff involved with juveniles
is affirmed by the
provision which stipulates that professional staff must have sufficient
knowledge in pedagogy and psychology.
The law establishes the principle of
separate serving of prison terms for minors and adults and the joint system of
serving juvenile
prison term. It also differentiates between convicted persons
of different sex and age. According to this principle juvenile convicts
may
only exceptionally remain in a penal institution for minors until they turn 23,
but in no way may they be kept there after they
are 27.
- The
county court responsible for juvenile matters is authorized to decide on the
request for court protection in whose area the juvenile
prison sentence is being
served. The jurisdiction of the county court responsible for juvenile matters
to decide on the release
on parole at the request of the minor, members of his
or her family, the warden of the correctional facility or the public prosecutor
has been introduced (formerly, it was a commission). The decision to release a
minor on parole should be taken two months before
two thirds of the term have
been served, and is based on the opinion of the public prosecutor and, if need
be, on the result of interrogation
of the minor. The Juvenile Courts Act
prescribes general provisions on the enforcement of security measures whose
detailed elaboration
is expected with the specific implementation
regulations.
- With
regard to the juvenile prison term sentence the legislator enriched both the
court and the enforcement practice by introducing
a completely new legal
provision “withheld juvenile prison term sentence” that is similar
in its effect to a suspended
sentence. Pursuant to this provision a minor is
put through a period of probation, no less than one year and no more than three
years, under the condition that he/she fulfils special obligations or submits to
increased supervision. The intention is to achieve
the purpose of the sanction
through the very passage of the verdict and threat to pass the prison sentence
subsequently, i.e. without
institutionalization and social isolation of the
minor, if possible.
- During
the current reporting period the House Rules relating to prisons serving the
custody purposes came into effect, with specifically
listed and extended rights
of minors placed in custody by decision of a juvenile court. According to the
Juvenile Courts Act, minors
in custody must be allowed to work and, if possible,
receive training for their education and profession. The same regulation makes
it possible for a minor in custody to maintain contact without hindrance with a
representative of a social welfare centre, extends
the duration of visits, and
provides that minors should be kept separately from all persons who, given their
criminal or personal
characteristics, could negatively influence and affect
his/her psychological or physical development. When a minor who is not
dangerous
or not suspected of having committed a grave criminal offence is
temporarily taken out of prison he shall be escorted by a prison
officer in
plain clothes. In case of pregnancy and birth, females held in custody, minors
included, shall be provided with special
health care in accordance with the
general provisions. The supervision of the treatment of minors in custody shall
be conducted
by a juvenile judge who on his inspections shall receive oral and
written complaints and take the measures necessary to eliminate
the
irregularities noted.
- Within
the framework of the overall reform of the criminal legislation of the Republic
of Croatia the enforcement of penal sanctions
has also been subjected to
thorough reform improvements with a view to standardizing such provisions in
line with modern European
penal law. In this context, juvenile penal law
enforcement is different from adult penal law enforcement and must be included
in
a separate law. This law is being prepared and is expected to be approved by
the time the third periodic report of Croatia is submitted.
The enforcement of
juvenile penal sanctions under the Juvenile Courts Act is intended to bring
about a normative improvement of
the enforcement practice.
- In
2001, 2,470 minors committed misdemeanours by disturbing public order and peace,
which is 1.16 per cent less than in 2000 when
2,499 minors were charged with
such acts. The biggest increase (44.44 per cent) in the number of reported
minors was recorded under
the heading of “belittling or insulting police
officers” for which 130 minors were reported in 2001, and in the year
before that, 90 minors were reported. The offence of “fighting”
recorded a slight increase (3.01 per cent) with 991
minors reported in 2001 (962
in 2000). The number of offenders committing “insolent behaviour”
went down by 17.9 per
cent (362 in 2001 and 441 in 2000), and that of
offenders charged with “unauthorized firing of guns, rockets, explosives
and
combustible materials” by 17.86 per cent (23 in 2001 and 28 in 2000).
Note that the share of minors in the total number of
reported offences against
public order and peace was 5.93 per cent, an increase of 1.15 per cent
compared with 2000 (4.78 per cent).
- On
18 December 1997, the Government of the Republic of Croatia issued a decision on
setting up a commission for the prevention of
behavioural disorders of children
and youth and the protection of children with behavioural disorders. The
Commission has 12 members
(representatives of various ministries and faculties)
who carry out their activities in several working groups. The Commission
reports
to the Government of the Republic of Croatia at least once a year.
- Pursuant
to the provisions of article 136 of the Juvenile Courts Act the Minister of
Justice has, since 25 January 1999, set up a
commission for monitoring and
improving the work of bodies conducting criminal proceedings and enforcing
juvenile sanctions. Members
of the Commission are representatives of courts,
public prosecutors and faculties. The Commission functions as a professional
and
autonomous adviser to the Minister of Justice. Its tasks are to provide
opinions and proposals relating to normative acts that are
of importance for the
implementation of the Juvenile Courts Act; to systematically monitor the
situation, movement and structure
of juvenile crimes in Croatia; to consider
decisions handed down by juvenile courts and public prosecutors in proceedings
involving
minors and young adults; and to provide education to judges, public
prosecutors and professional staff in the implementation of the
Juvenile Courts
Act and protection of children and youth as regards criminal law, juvenile
delinquency, criminal offences against
children and minors and enforcement of
juvenile penal sanctions.
C. Children in situations of abuse, including physical and
psychological
recovery and social reintegration (arts. 32-36 and 39)
- The
Criminal Code, under the chapter on criminal offences against marriage, family
and youth, provides a number of material provisions
to protect children by
designating the following as criminal offences: violation of the maintenance
duty, taking away a child or
minor, change of family status, abandoning a child,
neglect and abuse of a child or minor, living out of wedlock with an under-age
person, and non-implementation of measures for the protection of a child or
minor. Other criminal offences against children and
minors are also sanctioned:
sexual intercourse with a child through abuse of position of authority,
procurement, sexual intercourse,
exploitation of children or minors for
pornographic purposes, and introduction of pornography to children and incest.
It is also
necessary to mention the criminal offences of the establishment of
slavery and the transport of slaves, international prostitution
and abuse of
narcotic drugs.
- It
is particularly important to note that compared with the previous report, the
Criminal Code now contains a provision explicitly
prohibiting the introduction
of pornography to a child (by selling, giving, showing, publicly exhibiting, or
making available in
any other way printouts, photographs, audio-visual or other
pornographic items).
- The
Juvenile Courts Act explicitly obliges juvenile court judges and examining
magistrates to treat the affected child or minor with
special care during the
proceedings in order to avoid any possible negative effects on the education and
development of young persons.
- Cases
of protection of children under criminal law involve adequately specialized
judges, public prosecutors and other professional
staff (special education
professionals, social workers, etc.) who ensure expedient proceedings and
optimal protection of children
in both criminal proceedings and subsequent
systematic treatment by the social welfare service.
- New
provisions of the Criminal Procedure Act prescribe exemption from the duty to
testify of a minor who due to his or her age and
level of mental development is
not capable of comprehending the meaning of the right not to testify, and if a
child under 14 is to
give testimony, the hearing must not be public, which is in
line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
1. Economic exploitation of children, including child
labour
- The
initial report contains basic information on the provisions of the Constitution
and labour legislation concerning the protection of children from abuse.
- The
Criminal Code under the heading “Setting up slavery and transport of
slaves” prescribes that the person who, in violation
of the rules of
international law, buys, sells, hands over to another person or mediates in the
purchase, sale or handing over of
a child for adoption, organ transplantation,
exploitation of child labour or other illegal purposes shall be punished with at
least
five years in prison. Apparently, the wording of the provision includes
all modes of commission of a criminal offence related to
slavery and related
practices such as forced and compulsory child labour.
- The
1995 Labour Act prescribes that a person under 15 may not be employed.
Exceptionally, with the prior approval of the labour inspector,
such person may,
against payment, participate in the shooting of films, preparing and presenting
art events, stage plays or other
events in the manner, to the extent and on
assignments that do not compromise such young person’s health, chastity,
education
and development. A written approval of such work shall be
- issued
by a labour inspector on the basis of a request submitted by the legal guardian.
According to information provided by the National
Inspectorate there have been
no such requests in the last three years, although it is obvious that children
of the specified age
participated in such events, particularly abroad, as
models.
2. Drug abuse (art. 33)
- The
Republic of Croatia is a signatory to the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs
of 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the Convention
on Psychotropic
Substances of 1971, and the Convention against the Illicit Traffic in
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
of 1988.
- With
regard to the child as a victim of the criminal offence of abuse of narcotic
drugs the Criminal Code provides more severe punishment
for a person who induces
a child to use narcotic drugs, provides narcotic drugs to the child, provides
premises to a child where
it can consume narcotic drugs, or enables it in any
other way to consume narcotic drugs.
- With
regard to article 3 of the 1988 Convention, however, the Criminal Code of the
Republic of Croatia does not provide for a more
severe punishment when a child
is used in trafficking narcotic drugs, which by all means requires amendment to
the Criminal Code.
This fact is, however, taken into account as aggravating
circumstance for the choice of sanction in proceedings against an adult.
- In
deciding whether to press criminal charges against children public prosecutors
frequently apply the principle of opportunism (“diversion”),
which
means that if the child and his/her parents agree to the procedure to put the
child off drugs at an addiction prevention and
treatment centre and the child
meets this obligation, the public prosecutor for juvenile matters will finally
decide not to prosecute
the child. The purpose of such proceeding is
“help instead of criminal prosecution”.
- Owing
to the war, economic transition and deteriorating economic and social conditions
that have a direct bearing on the increase
in the unemployment rate and on the
deteriorating standard of living, drug abuse in Croatia rapidly expanded in the
1990s (about
10,000 registered addicts, of whom 4,500 on heroin, and about
35,000 occasional consumers, with about 50 deaths per year). There
has been a
marked increase in the number of addicts, particularly in the cities of Split,
Zagreb, Pula and Zadar.
- According
to all indications in Croatia and abroad drug consumers are a very heterogeneous
group varying in age, with a substantial
share of young persons. For this
reason combating addiction requires a multidisciplinary approach that should
focus on eliminating
the cause of addiction. Sporadic actions and selective
solutions have not yielded any significant results. For this reason the
Government of the Republic of Croatia adopted an integral programme entitled
“National Strategy for the Prevention of Drug
Abuse in the Republic
of Croatia” within which interdisciplinary work will include schools,
the police, the judiciary, health
care and social welfare. The role of these
actors, including that of social welfare, is also defined in the Law on the
Prevention
of Abuse of Narcotic Drugs, which entered into force on 5 December
2001.
- The
role of social welfare centres is to conduct primary, secondary and tertiary
prevention (working with families and children that
need protective measures,
establishing contacts and intervening when groups of youth display risk
behaviour, encouraging addicts
to change their behaviour, and rehabilitation and
social reintegration of addicts). Beside the involvement of social welfare
centres
in all preventive activities and the education of specialized staff for
the implementation of the programme for detecting drug addicts,
a network of
institutions for the rehabilitation of addicts is being created in Croatia.
- As
mentioned earlier in the present report under the Catering Industry Act it is
illegal for the staff of the catering establishments
to serve alcoholic
drinks to a child. To enforce the provisions of this Act the police
intensified its activities and inspections,
particularly
after 16 February 1998, of all catering establishments that sell
alcoholic drinks.
- Likewise,
it is illegal to sell tobacco products to children under 18. According to the
existing legislation this prohibition must
be visibly displayed at each point of
sale of tobacco products. This is true of shops, stands and other points of
sale where tobacco
products can be bought, but the prohibition is not absolutely
implemented. In this regard sanitary inspectors should undertake more
frequent
inspections, which currently is not always the case.
3. Sexual exploitation and abuse of children (art. 34)
- In
the Republic of Croatia a female/male child over 14 engaging in prostitution is
not guilty of criminal offence but rather of misdemeanour
against public order
and peace under the Misdemeanour Act of 1990. The child may be warned or
reprimanded for the misdemeanour,
or fined if he or she is over 16, and only
exceptionally sentenced to 15 days in prison.
- Child
prostitution as a criminal offence is dealt with in two provisions of the
Criminal Code. The first which includes “Criminal
offences against the
values protected by international law” under the heading
“International prostitution” specifically
protects the child as an
object of the criminal offence and threatens more severe prison term punishment.
The other provision dealing
with prostitution is article 195 of the Criminal
Code which deals with criminal offences against the sexual freedom and chastity.
This provision specifies more severe punishment for a person who committed a
criminal offence against a child.
- With
regard to child pornography the legislator significantly extended, in the new
Criminal Code, the modes of commission of this
criminal offence against
children, with the respective provision reading: “Anyone who takes
pictures of a child in order to
produce photographs, audio-visual material or
other pornographic items, or possesses or imports or sells or distributes or
shows
such materials or induces such persons to participate in a pornographic
show shall be punished by a prison term from one to five
years.” The same
provision specifies that items intended or used for the commission of the
criminal offence shall be seized
and destroyed.
- According
to the court practice pornographic materials include writings, recordings,
photographs, publications and other products
recorded with modern means (film,
print, video, and modern electronic computer facilities) related to sex and
intended for inducing
lust.
D. Children belonging to a minority (art. 30)
- In
its initial report Croatia presented the basic information concerning the
implementation of article 30 of the Convention. The
same information will not,
therefore,
be reproduced in the present report.
- The
Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and the Constitutional Law on Human
Rights and Freedoms and the Rights of Ethnic and National Communities
or
Minorities in the Republic of Croatia are the legal basis for the development of
education for children belonging to minorities,
taking into account their
specific cultural, linguistic and religious characteristics. In May 2002, the
Law on the Use of Languages
and Scripts of Ethnic Minorities in the Republic of
Croatia was passed, as was the Law on Education in the Languages and Scripts
of
Ethnic Minorities, which marked the beginning of reforming the system of
protection of minority rights.
- Pre-school
education and school teaching in the mother tongue is organized for the Italian,
Czech, Hungarian, Serb ethnic community
or minority (religious education is also
provided), as well as for the national Austrian and German community or
minority. The teaching
of mother tongue, history and culture in primary school
is organized for the Slovak national community or minority. For the Ruthenian
and the Ukrainian ethnic community or minority school teaching in the mother
tongue is organized, and for the Jewish community or
minority pre-school
education and religious teaching are given within the Jewish Centre. For
the sake of illustration, in the school
year 1999/2000 there were 9 primary
schools with Czech as a teaching language, 25 classes and 384 pupils;
9 primary schools with
Hungarian as a teaching language, 25 classes
and 293 pupils, plus 3 secondary schools. There were also 17 primary
schools with Italian
as a teaching language, 123 classes and 2,141 pupils,
and 4 secondary schools. There were 37 primary schools with Serbian
as a teaching
language, 191 classes and 3,581 pupils, and 8 secondary
schools with 82 classes and 1,612 pupils. There were 2 primary
schools with
Slovak as a teaching language, 2 classes and 17 pupils.
- Three
years ago the Office for Ethnic Minorities launched a special programme for the
inclusion of the Romany children in the regular
school system in the Republic of
Croatia. The measures focused on both pre-school education of children and
creating conditions
for regular school attendance. Within this programme one
Romany settlement was supplied with running water and electricity, and
the
urbanization of several such settlements was assisted from the national and
respective local county budgets in equal proportions.
Beside this, the building
of a kindergarten was co-financed. From 2000 on, the programme was continued by
financing the works in
Romany settlements in four counties, and funds were
allocated for the works in the Romany settlement in the City of Zagreb.
- The
Office for Ethnic Minorities financed several seminars for the training of the
Romany as field assistants with social welfare
centres. Two seminars were
financed by the Ministry of Education and Sport for training staff in primary
schools. For the works
in one Romany settlement in the Varaždin county,
where 250 children live, HRK 300,000 were allocated, and the Ministry of Labour
and Social Welfare purchased a mobile home container for opening a kindergarten
or pre-school facility for the Romany children.
- The
Office for Ethnic Minorities, together with the competent government agencies
and representatives of 17 Romany associations registered
at the national level,
started drawing up the National Programme for the Romany that will produce an
integral system of measures
for solving the problems of the Romany population,
particularly children. The Programme will include works in the Romany
settlements,
employment, education of Romany children (inclusion in the regular
school system, education in their mother tongue, scholarships,
learning about
traditional Romany culture and traditions), health care and education. The
implementation of the Programme requires
amendments to the existing legislation.
In this regard, the Republic of Croatia will pay special attention to
reconciling the need
to effectively protect Romany children under criminal and
family legislation with the need to preserve the specific Romany culture
and
tradition.
- The
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare oversees implementation of the Programme
of Training of Romany mediators to assist Romany
parents. The programme will be
implemented within the framework of the programme for the inclusion of Romany
children in the educational
system of the Republic of Croatia. This Programme
has been in place since 1998 and is intended to educate the Romany to be able
to
assist Romany parents in improving the quality of life of their children.
- Of
the major local events focusing on Romany issues mention should be made of the
panel discussion organized by the Office for Labour,
Health Care and Social
Welfare of the City of Zagreb in January 2001 on the subject of assistance in
solving the problems of the
Romany in the City of Zagreb. Particular attention
was devoted to the problems of Romany housing (illegal construction of housing
without adequate utility infrastructure, with contagion hazard, inadequate child
health care, piling up garbage in settlements),
neglect and abuse of children
(failure to send them to school, exploiting them as beggars, prostitutes,
involving them in trafficking
in drugs and people), and their inadequate social
status (existing social welfare measures do not suffice, insufficient
communication
with society at large, conflicts among the Romany, etc.).
- In
1997, the Government of the Republic of Croatia adopted the integral and
comprehensive National Policy for the Promotion of Gender
Equality. The legal
basis for the implementation of the policy of equality in the Republic of
Croatia is provided in article 14
of the Constitution which guarantees every
citizen all rights and freedoms, among other things, irrespective of gender.
Paragraph 2 of the same article
provides that “all are equal before the
law”.
IX. CLOSING REMARKS
- Since
the submission of the initial report, there has been significant progress in the
Republic of Croatia in legislative and practical
terms regarding the
implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Regrettably, due
to lack of funds not everything
could be done at once as we would have wished.
It is beyond doubt that new expertise and a series of treaties, particularly the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, contributed to the change in the position
of the child under family legislation, defined as
a system of the child’s
rights. The system of the child’s rights, besides the change in the
relations between parents
and the child,
- implies
new legal concepts as well (e.g. parental responsibility) and new legal
standards (interest-welfare of the child). In this
respect, a significant
contribution came from the social actors responsible for the protection of
children (experts in the rights
of the child, social welfare centres, courts,
registrars, police, etc.).
- The
change in the view of the child was also facilitated by the media with their
very professional broadcast programmes for children,
parents and others.
Everyday television clips with very clear messages inform children, parents and
others about the rights of the
child provided in the Convention.
- The
activities in the Republic of Croatia for the improvement of the protection of
the rights and interests of the child were greatly
supported by NGOs, and UNICEF
played a particularly important role.
-----
[*] For the initial report submitted by the
Government of Croatia, see CRC/C/8/Add.19, for its consideration by the
Committee, see documents
CRC/C/SR.279-281 and CRC/C/15/Add.52.
GE.03-45519 (E) 120204
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