1 THE INTERNATIONAL WORK OF THE CROATIAN BAR ASSOCIATION Leo Andreis History of the CBA The legal profession in Croatia has a long tradition, reaching back to ancient times. The first historical documents in which attorneys-at-law (Croatian: odvjetnici; Latin: advocates, procuratores) are mentioned have a medieval origin - the first of them being The Vinodol Code (Vinodolski zakon) from 1288. In the coastal area - Dalmatia - the roots of the legal profession are even deeper and reach to the times of the Roman Empire. After a long period of customary (common-law) regulation, the first written statutes on the powers and duties of attorneys were enacted in 1769 and 1804. In 1852 the socalled Attorneys Order (Odvjetnicki red), passed by the Austro-Hungarian royal government, came into force, providing that the Minister of Justice (later: Croatian Royal Government) shall appoint the advocates and determine their seat. The required preconditions for appointment were a doctoral degree in Law, a successfully passed bar examination and three years of legal practice. The number of attorneys was limited (numerus clausus). Attorneys were then registered at the highest court - the so-called Banski stol, but at the same time two local bar associations were formed, for eastern and western parts of Croatia. These first bar associations were also under strong governmental control. On the other hand, in Dalmatia, which was under direct Austrian rule, the separate Attorneys Order (Advokatenordnung) was passed in 1868, providing for the first time freedom to become an attorney-at-law, without a governmental right to reject the application of candidates who meet the necessary requirements. This event is today celebrated as the beginning of an independent and autonomous legal profession. In continental Croatia, the free exercise of the legal profession was recognised by the Law on Advocates (Zakon o advokatima) in 1929. By this royal law of former Yugoslavia, eight autonomous bar associations were constituted, the Croatian Bar Association being one of them. Since then, every person who could prove that he/she fulfilled the mandatory preconditions had the right to be inscribed in the Register of Attorneys run by the respective bar association, without further confirmation by the state authorities. These conditions were basically the same as today: a legal education, legal practice and the completion of the bar examination at the respective appellate court. Although the legal profession was held under suspicion by the communist regime in former Yugoslavia, this system was practically unaffected by communist laws. There had been, of course, occasional attempts to submit attorneys and the bar associations to state control, but without any success. Nevertheless, individual harassment of attorneys took place in some political cases. In that respect, Croatian and other
2 former Yugoslav attorneys were in an unique situation in the whole of Eastern Europe, where communism failed to destroy the freedom of the legal profession. The Croatian Bar Association today The Croatian Bar Association is a professional association of attorneys who have their own practices and work for themselves and on their own account. All attorneys in Croatia have to be members of the Croatian Bar Association. According to the data at the beginning of April this year, there are 3,153 attorneys and 1,456 law trainees in Croatia. Local bars exist in the following cities (each bar for the territory of a respective District Court): Zagreb, Split, Pula, Rijeka, Osijek, Bjelovar, Varazdin, Pozega, Sisak, Karlovac, Dubrovnik, Sibenik and Zadar. Local bar associations solve attorneys' problems at a local level. Through their representatives local bars are also active within the CBA. Both organizational units (CBA and local bar associations) have their Statutes, but local bar associations don't have the status of a legal person. On February 18, 1994, the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) introduced a new Law on the Legal Profession (Zakon o odvjetnistvu). According to this Law, the CBA is the basic attorneys' association in Croatia. The CBA is authorized to monitor and study the relations and occurences which are of interest for the social system and the protection of the freedoms and rights of citizens and legal entities and for the promotion of the legal profession. The CBA runs the Register of Attorneys (odvjetnici) and the Register of Law Trainees (odvjetnicki vjezbenici). It is responsible for conducting the proceedings for registration into those registers, as well as for removal from them. Each attorney becomes authorized to represent clients after his registration and after taking an oath before the President of the CBA or a person authorized by him. The CBA also conducts disciplinary proceedings, monitors the work of attorneys and endeavors to raise professional standards for attorneys and law trainees. The basic task of the CBA is to promote the legal profession as an independent and autonomous service and to protect the rights and interests of attorneys and law trainees. The CBA has the following bodies: President, Assembly of the CBA, Management Board and Executive Board. Furthermore, there are judges in disciplinary proceedings and prosecutors in disciplinary proceedings and other bodies who are mostly elected by the Assembly of the CBA. The Assembly also enacts the Statute and Code of Ethics. The voting is secret. Due to its various fields of activities, the CBA needs a number of professional committees, working groups and commisions. Some of them are permanent and others are established when needed. The members of these bodies are usually elected by the Management Board, and in some cases by the Assembly. The CBA informs governmental bodies about the situation regarding the legal profession, the protection of human rights and freedoms and other rights of citizens
3 and corporations. The CBA decides on cooperation with national bar associations from other countries and other professional organization and institutions. Possibility for foreign lawyers to practice law in Croatia - current situation By the time Croatia enters EU, the situation is as follows. Foreign lawyers cannot be founders of a law firm in Croatia, they cannot be founders of joint law offices and they cannot practise law as individual attorneys; this can be done only by Croatian citizens enrolled in the register of attorneys held by the Croatian Bar Association. In practice, foreign individuals cannot participate in any kind of organization providing legal assistance in Croatia. The only exception is stipulated by Article 47 of the Law on the Legal Profession, which allows attorneys enrolled in the lists of associations of other countries to represent parties in the procedures before the Permanent Arbitration Courts in legal matters with a foreign element. Foreign legal entities cannot in any way participate in any legal status of an organization of attorneys in Croatia. The only possible way for cooperation is one in which a Croatian law office may affiliate itself by virtue of a written contract with other domestic or foreign law offices in order to carry out activities of common interest and to provide mutual service. These contracts are institutions of the Law on Obligations and they do not have any statutory effect on the organization of law offices in Croatia. It is important to state that law offices have the obligation to submit to the Bar Association a copy of the contract on cooperation. The Bar has the duty to either approve of the contract or warn law offices about the flaws or noncompliancies of this contract with the Law or by-laws of the Bar Association or the Attorneys' Code of Ethics. Amendments of the Law on Legal Profession is under way, first of all, to harmonise it with two EU Directives recommending stipulation of foreign legal entities in Croatia. In 2000 the Republic of Croatia joined the World Trade Organisation based on the Marakesh Agreement on establishing of the World Trade Organisation and in such a way it assumed the obligations arising from the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) as well as the obligations relating to the legal services concerning foreign law, international law and domestic law of a foreign service providers in socalled cross border trade of services. This means that foreign attorneys may provide legal counselling only in their domestic law, international law, that is, foreign law in general.
4 International activities of the CBA Already in 1931, right after the Federation of the bar associations of Yugoslavia had been set up, the legal profession at the time of Yugoslavia, and Croatia as well, joined the oldest international bar organisation Union Internationale des Avocats. Even before the Second World War, Union Internationale des Avocats had held its Congress in Dubrovnik. The Croatian Bar Association had become the member of Union Internationale des Avocats in 1992. The importance of cooperation of the Croatian legal profession with the International Union is reflected in the task given by the Union to the Croatian representative, dr. Ivan Politeo, the longtime president of the Bar Association, to make a draft of Code of Bar Ethics that later served as the basis for professional codes of couple of countries. The Croatian attorney dr. Aurel Krstulović was elected president of the International Union in Munich in 1975. In 1997 Zagreb was the host town of the Union Internationale des Avocats Congress. We are proud to point out that dr. Dragutin Sikirić, a Zagreb attorney, is the honorary member of Union Internationale des Avocats, one of few attorneys to whom Union Internationale des Avocats paid such honour. Today, Ranko Pelicarić, the former president of the Croatian Bar Association, is the national Vice President of Union Internationale des Avocats. The Croatian Bar Association is the member of International Bar Association since 1999 and we are proud that IBA placed confidence in us to host this conference. As you certainly know, our representative in IBA is the attorney Marijan Hanžeković who has been participating on regular basis in activities of IBA and keeps us posted and transfer experience and opinions of other fellow members, attorneys and IBA member on issues being important for the legal profession in Croatia. The Croatian Bar Association has been participating in activities of Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) since 2001. Croatia has the status of an associate member. In June 2005 the Council Conference, meeting of the Standing Committee and PECO seminar on market conditions in the countries that are going to join EU (Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania). Of special importance for the Croatian Bar Association is participation in the meetings of PECO Committee due to the process of EU accession of the Republic of Croatia and harmonisation of the Croatian legislation with the EU legislation. Our representative is Leo Andreis and his deputy Ranko Pelicarić, the attorney in Zagreb, former president of the Croatian Bar Association, is very engaged in activities of PECO Committee and Standing Committee. The Croatian Bar Association has been participating traditionally through its selected representatives in the European presidents' conference - Vienna Advocates' Conference since 1972, in Coference du Stage since 1972 and in Berlin Days of
5 Attorneys, in activities of the Council of Europe (body of the European Parliament) since 1996. Two attorneys, members of the Croatian Bar Association (Marijan Hanžeković and Arno Vičić) and former attorney and former president of the Association Mario Kos, who is now a Constitutional Court judge, are members of the Permanent Vienna Advocates' Conference. We gladly accept invitations to annual meetings of the bar associations in neighbouring countries. Each year in March the Croatian Bar Association organises Days of Croatian Lawyers involving the round table on relevant issues being important to the Croatian and international legal profession, and the gala attorney bal. Our guests are the highest representatives of the bar associations and similar legal institutions in Europe and worldwide. The origin of Days of Croatian Lawyers dates back to 1983 when Days of Attorneys of the town of Zagreb were organised. Attorneys of the Croatian Bar Association organise annual fellow and friendship meetings with the attorneys of the Bar Association of Slovenia where they exchange their practical experience and discuss changes in legislation of these two countries. Within cooperation with foreign bar associations and attorneys, the Croatian Bar Association conferred its highest award in recognition of merits in the legal profession - the Charter Plaque dr. Ivo Politeo - has granted till now to five foreign attorneys: dr. Walter Schuppich former president of the Austrian Bar Association, Ramon Mullerat former president of CCBE, Mitja Stupan and Peter Breznik former presidents of the Bar Association of Slovenia, and Josip Muselimović president of the Bar Attorney Association of BIH Federation.