PRAVO NA OBRANU PREMA ZAKONU O KAZNENOM POSTUPKU REPUBLIKE HRVATSKE
RIGHT OF DEFENCE PURSUANT TO THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

Summary/Abstract: In this paper the authors provide a legal overview of an important right of the defendant – the right of defence in a criminal procedure. The overview is provided in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Act of the Republic of Croatia. In addition to the individual rights constituting the right of defence, special attention is given to the so-called “minimum rights of defence”, guaranteed under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In the central section of the paper, the authors determine and analyse the legal framework of the right of defence, in which analysis special focus is laid on substantive and formal defence, the latter including mandatory and optional defence and defence of indigent persons. The paper also considers the extent to which international principles and standards in that area have been adopted by the criminal procedure legislation. In their conclusion, the authors highlight that the international principles and general legal standards have been adopted by the criminal procedure legislation in the Republic of Croatia as an international guarantee whereunder any defendant is guaranteed effective observance of his human right of personal (substantive) and professional (formal) defence in the criminal procedure. The above-mentioned legislation hence ensures the assumptions bothfor a legal trial and for a fair trial, in which the accused citizen will be able to fully exercise his constitutional and legal rights before the criminal court.

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