Enforcement procedure will no longer be launched for debts under 20,000 kunas.
The government has accepted the amendments to the Enforcement Act proposed by MOST, together with 13 additional amendments, and has sent it to the Parliament. Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic stressed that the changes to the law were agreed with MOST earlier this year, so it is expected that the proposal will be adopted in the Parliament, reports 24sata.hr on 7 July 2017.
“With these 13 amendments, we want to make the law even better and more socially sensitive,” said Justice Minister Dražen Bošnjaković. In the final proposal of the law, a particular emphasis has been put on the protection of only property as a subject of the enforcement proceedings. “The key points of these amendments are that it will not be possible to enforce foreclosure on a single property or when the value of the principal debt is less than 20,000 kunas. We are giving a very precise tool to the courts, even when the principal debt is higher, but there are additional reasons, to be able to make the decision not to foreclose such properties. In those cases where people still remain without any property, we are very clear about how social welfare centres will act and guarantee accommodation for 18 months. We also increase the secured portion of wages and pensions from two-thirds to three-fourths,” explained Bošnjaković. Regarding the increase of the protected wages share, this refers to three-quarters of the average net salary in Croatia.
Prime Minister Plenković also said that it would be useful to consider the possibility of new Enforcement Law being drafted in the autumn. “This is a problem of a vast number of Croatian citizens, and I believe that these changes will contribute to its better solution. Since this law has already undergone a lot of changes, it might be useful to consider the appointment of a working group that would create a new, modern law that might ultimately solve all these issues,” said Plenković.
Nikola Grmoja (MOST) commented on the government’s support for their amendments to the Enforcement Law. He pointed out that MOST wanted much more radical changes, but they did not have political support. “It would be unreasonable for us to reject the proposal that we have jointly agreed upon. What I want to emphasise and what is important is that the proposal of the law we have given is an agreed plan. So, HDZ has agreed with us. We were prepared for much more radical changes, but we did not have political support for them at that time. It is in our interest for the law to be adopted, but we would love to make these changes as substantial as possible. As far as the amount of 20,000 kunas is concerned, we will go towards a much larger number,” said Grmoja.
“Complete changes to the Enforcement Law are needed, and MOST will work on them. It is important to emphasise that we are the only political party that has proposed something specific, in order to finally help our most vulnerable citizens. I expect all MPs to support this law,” said Grmoja.
Commenting on criticism that the amendments have not removed public notaries from the process, Grmoja stated that they had no support for it. “This is a process which goes in that direction. We are supportive of the idea, we have demonstrated this in the Law on Croatian National Television where we went against the influence of individual attorneys and public notaries, so MOST’s intention is clear. Keep in mind that we have just 15 votes in the Parliament, and it takes many more votes to pass laws,” he pointed out.
He praised Prime Minister’s announcement that an entirely new law would be drafted in the autumn. “We will actively participate in it, and we are glad that we have encouraged the government to propose a law to go in that direction. The President has finally also realised that this is an important issue,” concluded Grmoja.
