e-Enforcement
The service enables the submission of an application for enforcement on the basis of an authentic document, the submission of subsequent corrections and additions, as well as monitoring the status of the proceedings
In accordance with the Enforcement Act and the Ordinance on Forms in Enforcement Proceedings, for the purposes of electronic communication between the participants and assigning cases to a notary public, an application system for submitting applications for enforcement on the basis of an authentic document to municipal courts (e-Enforcement) has been established.The case is evenly and automatically distributed by the municipal courts to the notaries public as court commissioners, in alphabetical order of their surnames and according to the rules on the official area and seat of notaries public.
In exceptional cases, natural persons may also submit an application for enforcement on the basis of an authentic document using the prescribed form to the business unit of the Financial Agency in paper format, which then enters the data from the form into the electronic e-Enforcement system and forwards the application to the municipal court on the basis of its jurisdiction over the place of residence or registered seat of the debtor.
e-Enforcement thus enables the submission of applications through the application system on a prescribed, standardised electronic form in a machine-readable format, monitoring the status of cases, obtaining certificates of validity and enforceability of enforcement decisions, and sending enforcement decisions for implementation to the Financial Agency (FINA).
What is enforcement?
Enforcement proceedings are brought by the enforcement creditor's application or ex officio (when this is prescribed by law) on the basis of:- An enforceable document (submitted to the court)
- An authentic document (submitted to a notary public).
With whom the enforcement creditor will file an application for enforcement or a request for direct payment (to a court, notary public or FINA) depends on the type of document on the basis of which the enforcement is brought and the subject of the enforcement.
The following are enforceable documents:
- An enforceable court decision (e.g. judgment) and an enforceable court settlement
- An enforceable settlement from Article 186a of the Civil Procedure Act (a settlement reached with the State Attorney's Office of the Republic of Croatia regarding a request for amicable settlement of a dispute with the Republic of Croatia)
- An enforceable decision of an arbitration tribunal
- An enforceable decision taken in administrative proceedings and an enforceable settlement reached in administrative proceedings if these stipulate that the financial liability should be met, unless otherwise provided by law
- An enforceable decision of a notary public and an enforceable notarial deed
- A settlement reached in proceedings before the courts of honour of the chambers in the Republic of Croatia and a settlement reached in mediation proceedings in accordance with the provisions of the act governing mediation proceedings
- Other document defined by law as an enforceable document.
- An invoice (calculation of interest is also considered to be an invoice)
- A bill of exchange and cheque with a protest and quittances when required to form a claim
- A public document
- An extract from business records
- private document certified in accordance with the law and a document that is considered to be a public document under special regulations.
- The debtor’s assets (money, real estate, movables, securities, shares in a company, etc.)
- Some non-property right of the enforcement creditor (handover and delivery of a movable, etc.)
What is not subject to enforcement
Farmer’s agricultural land and farm buildings, real estate for which a special act stipulates that it cannot be enforced, to the extent prescribed by law, are not subject to enforcement, and neither are other items for which the Enforcement Act or a special act stipulates that these cannot be enforced.In proceedings initiated after 3 August 2017, real estate may not be subject to enforcement unless the principal exceeds the amount of 2.654,46 EUR except in exceptional cases. If the principal does exceed the amount of 2.654,46 EUR the court may reject the application for enforcement against the real estate if it finds that the sale of the real estate would upset the fair balance of the interests of the creditor and the debtor.
For claims arising from a legal transaction concluded after 3 August 2017, the debtor’s only real estate cannot be enforced, unless the debtor agrees to this and when equity so requires.
If the conditions prescribed by law are met, the debtor may claim the right to financial compensation for the costs of housing from the state budget, for the period of no more than 18 months.
If the debtor receives a salary that is less than the average net salary in the Republic of Croatia, the amount of three-fourths of the debtor’s salary, but not more than two-thirds of the average net salary in the Republic of Croatia, is exempt from enforcement, and if the enforcement is carried out for the purpose of settlement of maintenance claims, compensation for damage to health or reduced or lost working capacity and compensation for damage caused by loss of maintenance due to the death of the maintenance provider, the amount of one half of debtor's net salary is exempt, except in case of enforcement for the enforced recovery of financial child support, in which case the amount equivalent to one quarter of the debtor's net salary is exempt from enforcement.
Right of appeal
The debtor has the right of appeal and may lodge:- An appeal against the court decision on enforcement taken on the basis of an enforceable document. Lodging a timely and admissible appeal will not delay the execution of enforcement.
- A complaint against the notary public’s decision taken on the basis of an authentic document. Lodging a timely, reasoned and admissible complaint against the notary public’s decision taken on the basis of an authentic document will delay the execution of enforcement, and the proceedings will be continued before a court of law. If the complaints is not reasoned, the court will dismiss it as incomplete, without inviting the debtor to amend or correct it.
Enforcement costs
The costs related to the determination and execution of enforcement are borne in advance by the enforcement creditor.The debtor is obliged to reimburse the enforcement creditor for the enforcement costs.
The costs incurred by the debtor without any justification shall to be reimbursed by the enforcement creditor.
Enforcement proceedings are considered completed once the decision on the dismissal or rejection of the application for enforcement becomes final and the enforcement action with which the enforcement will either be completed or suspended is carried out.
The foreseeable costs of enforcement are, for example, the costs of issuing a certificate of finality and enforceability (3,98 EUR excluding VAT) or the costs of obtaining a certificate of finality and enforceability via an attorney-at-law (33,18 EUR excluding VAT). If the debtor has not acted in accordance with the payment order from the decision on enforcement, they are obliged to reimburse the foreseeable costs to the creditor when the decision on enforcement taken on the basis of an authentic document becomes final and enforceable.