Court fees concerning Small Claims procedure

Introduction

Court fees in the Republic of Croatia are set out in the Court Fees Act (Zakon o sudskim pristojbama) (Narodne novine (NN; Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia), Nos 118/18 and 51/23) and the Decree on the Court Fee Tariff (Uredba o Tarifi sudskih pristojbi) (NN No 37/23) prescribed by the Government of the Republic of Croatia.

Pursuant to Article 5 of the Court Fees Act, the fees prescribed by the Tariff are to be paid by cashless payment, in cash, in revenue stamps issued by the Republic of Croatia, or electronically.

Pursuant to Article 7 of the Court Fees Act, for petitions submitted electronically, pursuant to special regulations via the information system which is used in court business, a fee is paid on submission. The amount paid is half the fee established by the Tariff.

For decisions served by a court electronically, pursuant to the special regulations via the information system which is used in court business, half the fee established by the Tariff is paid, if it is paid within 3 days from the day of electronic service.

If the court fee is not paid by the above deadline, it becomes payable in the amount specified in the Tariff.

Which fees apply?

Court fees are paid in all civil and commercial court proceedings. Pursuant to Article 11 of the Court Fees Act, the following are exempt:

1. the Republic of Croatia and government bodies
2. persons and bodies exercising public authority in procedures arising from the exercise of these powers
3. workers in disputes and other procedures related to the exercise of their rights arising from employment
4. civil servants and employees in administrative disputes related to the exercise of their rights stemming from employment
5. persons with disabilities, based on appropriate documents proving their status
6. spouses, children and parents of soldiers who were killed, missing and detained in the Croatian War of Independence, based on appropriate documents proving their status
7. spouses, children and parents of persons who were killed, missing and detained in the Croatian War of Independence, based on appropriate documents proving their status
8. refugees, displaced persons and returnees, based on appropriate documents proving their status
9. welfare recipients who receive subsistence allowance
10. humanitarian organisations, organisations dealing with the protection of families of those killed, missing and detained in carrying out humanitarian activities and organisations of disabled people
11. children as parties in proceedings for maintenance or in proceedings concerning claims based on that right
12. parties initiating proceedings for the determination of maternity or paternity and proceedings for the costs incurred by pregnancy and the birth of a child outside of marriage
13. parties seeking restoration of legal capacity
14. minors seeking authorisation to enter marriage
15. parties to proceedings in order to hand over a child and for the purpose of exercising a personal relationship with a child
16. parties initiating proceedings relating to rights arising from compulsory pension and general medical insurance, rights of the unemployed pursuant to employment regulations and social welfare rights
17. parties initiating proceedings for the protection of constitutionally guaranteed human rights and freedoms against final individual acts
18. parties in environmental pollution compensation disputes
19. trade unions and higher-level trade union associations in civil proceedings for court approval in lieu of trade union approval and in collective labour disputes, and union representatives in civil proceedings in the exercise of the powers of the works council
20. consumers as bankruptcy debtors and plaintiffs in proceedings brought on the basis of a final court judgment for the protection of collective interests
21. other persons and bodies as required by a special law.

A foreign state is exempt from the payment of fees, if so provided by international treaty or subject to reciprocity.

In case of doubt about the conditions of reciprocity, the court will request an explanation from the Ministry responsible for justice.

The exemption referred to in point 10 applies to those humanitarian organisations designated by decision of the minister responsible for social welfare affairs.

Exemption from the payment of court fees does not apply to local and regional self-government units unless, in accordance with a special law, the exercise of public authority has been delegated to them.

In European small claims procedures, the following fees are payable:

• for a claim – the plaintiff pays
• for lodging a defence – the defendant pays
• for a judgement – the plaintiff pays
• for an appeal – the appellant pays
• for a response to an appeal – the person filing the response pays (responding is optional)

How much will I pay?

I. For a claim, counter-claim, judgement and an objection to an order for payment, a court fee commensurate to the dispute amount is to be paid (calculated only for the amount of the main application without interest and costs), as follows:

II. Half of the fee referred to under point I is payable for lodging a defence and for a response to an appeal.

III. The amount of the fee referred to in point I plus 100% is payable on appeal of a judgment.

IV. A court fee is not payable where a court settlement is reached during the court proceedings.

What happens if I fail to pay court fees on time?

If a party fails to pay the fee within the prescribed deadline or fails to inform the court thereof without delay, the court will, within a further 15-day deadline, attach a certificate of enforceability to the decision on the fee or the complaint decision and submit it to the Financial Agency for enforcement against the party's funds in accordance with the provisions of the law governing the enforcement of rulings on monetary assets.

Pursuant to Article 28 of the Court Fees Act, where a party present at a court action for which a fee is due fails to pay the fee immediately, the court must first warn the party to pay the fee within 3 days. If the party fails to act on the warning or was not present at the court action for which the fee is due, and it has failed to pay the fee, the court will adopt a fee decision inviting the party to pay the fee within 8 days of delivering the decision. An additional fee of EUR 13.27 is payable on the fee decision.

How can I pay court fees?

Court fees are to be paid by cashless payment, in cash, in revenue stamps issued by the Republic of Croatia or electronically.

The cash fee can also be paid in the court's accounting, in which case the court is obliged to pay that money into the budget revenue from court fees within 5 days of the date of collection.

Fees can be paid in revenue stamps if the fee is less than EUR 13.27.

Information on the fee payment method is to be made available on the e-Bulletin Board website, court websites and in court offices.

Court fees can be paid through any bank or post office into the State Budget of the Republic of Croatia.

In order to pay court fees from abroad the following information must be included:

SWIFT: NBHRHR2X
IBAN: HR1210010051863000160
Giro account (CC): 1001005-1863000160
Model: HR64
Reference number: 5045-20735-PIN (or other personal identification number for the payer)
Beneficiary: Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Croatia, on behalf of the Commercial Court in Zagreb

The payment description should include the fee for case ________ (number of the case file, and a description of the payment, e.g. court fee for a proposal to issue the European order for payment)

What do I do once I have made payment?

The receipt for payment of the fee must be attached to the submission for which the fee has been paid and must indicate the parties to the proceedings. When a receipt for payment of the fee is submitted in respect of a court decision, the person submitting it must indicate the decision for which the fee is being paid.

The parties are to submit documents to the court regularly by mail (registered or ordinary parcel delivery) or electronically, in a form pursuant to special regulations via the information system which is used in court business.