Justice and Human Security Programme (Justice & Security)
Croatian criminal justice system
The Croatian criminal justice system does not prescribe institutionalized service for provision of support to witnesses and victims in courts. The first survey of judges and witnesses on witness-victims support system carried out by UNDP in 2007 has shown that organized WVS on courts is required.
The UNDP project aims at:
1) development of strategic management for witness-victims support; 2) the establishment of victims-witness support offices in courts, 3) the improvement of public awareness of the rights of victims and witnesses.
In 2007 the permanent Croatian State Election Commission (SEC) started with work. In support of such reform, UNDP is implementing the project financed by UNDEF on strengthening the capacities of SEC in following areas:
1) development and implementation of training model for electoral bodies, 2) improvements of capacities in analyzing the election system.
Croatian prisons suffer some of the worst overcrowding in Europe. One of the most overcrowded facilities is Turopolje Juvenile Correction Institution which house young men and adolescents. The project aims to limited and carefully selected infrastructural investment in Turopolje Correction Institution and to development of an educational and treatment program for violent offenders, based on best practice.
In 2006, five UNDP Country Offices – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia started a joint regional initiative whose goal was to strengthen cross-border cooperation on transitional justice issues. Transitional Justice Programme (TJP) began its activities in 2006. The aim of the Transitional Justice Programme is to strengthen the research, training, knowledge sharing and public information capacities of post-conflict institutions and to provide access to justice for past mistreatments.
Human Security
Today, Croatia
is a Middle Income Country (MIC), and is scheduled to be the first country with
a recent experience of full-scale conflict to join the EU which poses a
distinct set of security challenges for communities, Police and Government.
Recognizing this, UNDP provides assistance to the Croatian Government to
enhance human security through the enhancement of Small Arms Control, mine
action, community policing and violence prevention. Support for the development
of UNDP's Human Security Programme was realised, in part, by the decision in
June 2008, to financially commit the resources of the Ministry of Defense
(MoD), through surplus arms recycling into community security projects across Croatia.
Despite genuine progress from the Government on the arms
control and security agenda, transition and a still-recent history of war is
causing a plethora of socio-economic and law and order problems that require
innovative responses: Deteriorating levels of social cohesion in a
post-conflict environment intensifies the need for communities to find
structured ways to address tensions, particularly those that manifest in law
and order problems.
The Human Security Programme provides such a forum with all
stakeholders necessary to address grievances through practical, community-based
solutions (projects, services, actions) that restore confidence and deter the
escalation of conflict.
The ability of the law-abiding public to take constructive
action against criminal behavior is dependent on 'their trust, faith and
confidence in the police, local government and criminal justice system. In Croatia,
both the judiciary and local government suffer from 'dismal' levels of public
confidence, yet the Police enjoy higher levels of public trust. Crime
Prevention Councils give the public a voice and a practical forum for their
concerns and further enhance their level of trust in the Police by sharing a
decision-making forum.
The
Security Programme builds on existing public trust in the Police and
reinvigorates the Community Policing Strategy through the empowerment of
Community Crime Prevention Councils (CPCs) to serve as democratic and accountable bodies for dialogue, consensus,
decision-making and project conception; owned wholly by local communities
themselves, with a clear mandate to make their communities in former conflict
areas safer places to live and work.
Human Security The project assists in the measurable improvement of safety and security in Croatian towns, cities and institutions through targeted awareness-raising, evidence-based improvements in community policing, criminal analysis of armed violence and crime, and ultimately by removing dangers
Completed projects
Capacity Building of the State Election Commission in Croatia Enhancing Croatian State Election Commission's capacities to develop a training model for the election commissions and voting committees, as well as to expand research capabilities for producing analysis of election processes and proposing improvements of the electoral system and policy…
Croatia
