July 6 (SeeNews) - The European Commission recommended that Croatia increase the wages of judges, adopt laws on lobbying and increase the efficiency of investigations and prosecution of corruption offences, it said.
The Commission recommends that Croatia revise the criminal procedure code and the law on the office for the suppression of corruption and organised crime, as set out in the anti-corruption strategy, so as to increase the efficiency of investigations and prosecution of corruption offences, it said in a rule of law report on Wednesday.
“In addition to recalling the commitments made under the national Recovery and Resilience Plan relating to certain aspects of the justice system and the anti-corruption framework, it is recommended to Croatia to continue structural efforts to address the remuneration of judges, state attorneys and judicial staff, taking into account European standards on resources and remuneration for the justice system,” the Commission also said.
It also urges Croatia to adopt comprehensive legislation in the area of lobbying, including on persons with top executive positions, and set up a public register of lobbyists.
The Commission also recommended that the government in Zagreb strengthen the framework for a fair and transparent allocation of state advertising by establishing clear criteria, good practices and oversight measures to guarantee the effective functioning of the public tender procedure for local and regional media.
According to the Commission, Croatia needs to make further efforts to address the issue of strategic lawsuits against public participation targeted at journalists, including by reviewing the legal provisions on defamation and encouraging wider use of procedural rules that allow dismissing groundless lawsuits, taking into account the European standards on the protection of journalists.
Croatia should further improve the follow-up to recommendations and ensure a more systematic response to information requests of the ombudsperson, the Commission also said.