The government resolution on national development projects also includes an informatisation of the justice system, allowing the courts to use information and communication technology to increase their efficiency and transparency and reduce the number of errors, Justice Minister Lovro Sturm told the press on Friday.
The project includes electronic records instead of the current hard-copy ones, which would in turn allow the tracking of the claims, Sturm added.
Once the project is completed, it would also be possible to see how many cases are processed by individual courts, which judges are responsible for them and how long it has taken for the claims to be processed, he explained.
Electronic records for litigous, non-litigous and criminal matters should be ready by 2007, giving an "overview of all the matters that are being processed by the courts", Sturm revealed.
Electronic records will be followed by electronic judicial documents, including attachments, also allowing for electronic transfer of such documents between the courts of various instances, he noted.
The new system will moreover require attorneys, notaries, advocates general, prosecutors and all state bodies to communicate with the courts in electronic form. The court's decisions will also be sent in such a manner.
The only exceptions to the electronic-only communication will be those individuals who do not have a legal representative, he said.
The project will be co-funded by the EU (EUR 19m), the national budget will allocate EUR 41m, while EUR 5m will be received from public-private partnerships.
According to Sturm, the first effects of the project will already be visible by 2007, while the project is expected to end in 2010.
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