Interview of Dragutin Sapirov, chief of the judicial officers of Zagreb-Croatia

Mr. Sapirov, it is the first time that you attend a manifestation of the UIHJ. What are your impressions?

The goal of the meeting is to make it possible to develop the contacts between the judicial officers not so to unify the profession but to harmonise it. It is very interesting to know what occurs in the neighbouring countries. That goes even beyond the European Union.

Do you think that it is important to harmonise the occupation of judicial officer?

It is very important. All goes in this direction: culture, civilisation. That makes it possible to avoid the problems and the wars. This is why we must be together. We must have the same culture, the same roots while remaining different. Any demonstration intended to learn what occurs elsewhere is very positive.

Which are the steps taken by Croatia in connexion with the enforcement of the court decisions?

We held meetings with European Commission representatives. For example in Zagreb, several years ago, we learnt what occurred in Austria. We had also contacts with the Netherlands. It was the first time that I realised that there could be organised professionals with a chamber which represented them and fought for their rights. We must reinforce our position. For the moment in my country, that is not sufficient.

What do you think that it is necessary to improve in your work?

We need to increase the professional level of the profession. We should not belong to the jurisdictions any more. We must be financially independent, be well equipped and not to be the hostages of the politicians. Here is my opinion. We need a liberal profession, but responsible. Liberalization does not mean to say irresponsible.

Do you think that that would make it possible to solve the problems of backlog in the jurisdictions?

Yes, I believe it.

What do you expect from UIHJ to help you to achieve this goal?

We turn to you and we ask for your assistance. I will speak with my colleagues about this seminar. They want to belong to Europe. We must then work together. It is necessary to set up standards and to harmonize the legislations. That would make it possible to stop the one who does not respect the Law.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the soviet empire have there been many changes in your country?

Yugoslavia was never under the direct influence of the USSR. The West respects us for that. Communism was not so hard here. We turned to the West and we tried to learn from it. But there have been no real changes since 1989 for my profession. I have virtually worked in the same way for the 33 years that I have been doing this job.

Do you think that your profession will change before entering the European Union?

That should be thus. How to enter the European Union if we do not adopt the European standards? We will have to do it. But there are resistances. People fear to change. They are afraid to lose of their influence.

Would you be inclined to form your own association of judicial officer?

A Chamber would help us. It is the objective number 1. We do not have representatives who can fight for us.

would these changes be a good thing for the Republic of Croatia?

That is certain.

What about the citizens, what do they think about it?

The Croats like to borrow money and not think that there comes a day when they have to reimburse it. When they hear that the execution could be more severe, they are not content. They are satisfied with the present situation. The thief never likes to be caught by the police!