Press Releases
U.S. SPONSORS VIDEO LINK SEMINAR FOR CROATIAN COUNTY COURT JUDGES
EMBASSY OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Public Affairs Section
Zagreb, Croatia
Zagreb, March 27, 2006 --On March 24th, the United States Government sponsored a professional training seminar titled "Use of Digital Video Conferencing Systems" for County Court judges. This one-day workshop connected the Zagreb County Court via video link with the County Courts in Osijek, Rijeka, Split, and Vukovar and included remote participation of 55 trial and investigative judges. The U.S. Government donated the video link systems to these courts in 2005 for the purposes of remote testimony and witness protection. The American Bar Association, Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA CEELI), in cooperation with the Judicial Academy of the Croatian Ministry of Justice, organized the workshop as a segment of a professional training program entitled "Improving the Capacity for Adjudication of War Crimes in Croatia."
Supreme Court Justice Damir Kos led discussions on the legal issues surrounding using video testimony both within Croatia and with a foreign country. As video testimony is a relatively new development and is not specifically covered under Croatian law, Justice Kos outlined the relevant provisions of the European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Judicial Matters. Discussions ranged from requesting mutual legal assistance to how to question witnesses and proceed with evidence. Justice Kos emphasized that specific bilateral agreements are not required for Croatia to exchange video testimony with other countries.