When the competent court receives a foreign judgment or probation decision, it shall verify whether the certificate has been submitted with it and whether the following requirements are satisfied:
1. the sentenced person resides or is domiciled in the Republic of Croatia and has returned to the Republic of Croatia or wants to return to the Republic of Croatia; or
2. the sentenced person has requested that the judgment or probation decision be forwarded to the competent authorities of the Republic of Croatia for the purpose of recognition and enforcement, although the requirements referred above are not satisfied, and the ministry competent for justice affairs gave consent to the issuing State to such forwarding.
The ministry competent for justice affairs shall, when deciding upon giving consent to the issuing State to forward the judgment or probation decision to the Republic of Croatia for recognition and enforcement, in particular take into account the facilitation of social rehabilitation and reintegration of the sentenced person into society.
The court or the ministry competent for justice affairs shall establish the residence of the sentenced person or members of his or her family in the Republic of Croatia, if he or she owns any immovable property in the Republic of Croatia, and other personal and social circumstances which connect the sentenced person with the Republic of Croatia.
The competent court may request the issuing State to transmit the judgment or probation decision, or their authenticated copy, accompanied with the original certificate.
After the procedure, the court shall without delay issue a decision recognising the foreign judgment or probation decision, unless it decides to invoke one of the grounds for refusing recognition and enforcement of the judgment or probation decision.
The court shall forward a decision on recognition of a foreign judgment or probation decision to the competent court within eight days of the decision becoming final and enforceable.
Mandatory grounds for refusal
The court shall refuse to recognise the foreign judgment or probation decision and to execute probation measures or alternative sanctions if:
1. the certificate is incomplete or manifestly does not correspond to the received judgment or probation decision, and the competent authority of the issuing State has not submitted a complete or corrected certificate;
2. the basic requirements are not satisfied;
3. recognition of the judgment or probation decision and execution of probation measures or alternative sanctions would be contrary to the ne bis in idem principle;
4. the act to which the judgment or probation decision relates does not constitute an offence under the domestic law. In relation to fiscal offences, recognition and execution of the judgment or probation decision shall not be refused solely on the ground that the domestic law does not impose the same kind of tax or duty or does not contain the same provisions as regards taxes, duties, customs or exchange regulations as the law of the issuing State;
5. the probation measure or alternative sanction has been imposed on a child who had not reached the age of 14 at the time the offence was committed.
Optional grounds for refusal
The court may, taking into account the purpose of probation measures and alternative sanctions, especially the need to protect the community from the criminal offender by influencing criminogenic factors and facilitating his or her social rehabilitation and successful reintegration into society, decide whether or not to recognise and enforce the foreign judgment or probation decision if:
1. the execution of the probation measures or alternative sanctions imposed by the foreign judgment or probation decision is statute-barred according to the domestic law;
2. the sentenced person benefits from an immunity under the domestic law, which makes it impossible to execute probation measures or alternative sanctions;
3. the foreign judgment or probation decision provides for a measure of psychiatric or therapeutic treatment which cannot be executed in the Republic of Croatia;
4. the probation measure or alternative sanction is of less than six months' duration or less than six months of the sanction remain to be executed;
5. the judgment or probation decision relates to offences which under the domestic law are regarded as having been committed wholly within the territory of the Republic of Croatia, or in a place equivalent to its territory, and in relation to offences committed for a major or essential part within this territory, the court shall take into account all the specific circumstances of the case, and in particular whether the offence has been committed for a major or essential part in the issuing State;
6. according to the certificate, the sentenced person did not appear personally at the hearing at which the judgment or probation decision was rendered, unless the certificate states that, in accordance with the requirements prescribed by the national law of the issuing State:
a) the sentenced person was, in due time and in person, summoned for the hearing and thereby informed of the time and place of the hearing at which the judgment or probation decision was rendered or that he or she received official information of the time and place of the hearing in such a manner that it can be unequivocally concluded that he or she was aware of the scheduled hearing, and was warned about the possibility of a decision being rendered in absentia if he or she does not appear for the hearing;
b) the sentenced person was represented at the hearing by a defence counsel authorised by him or her or appointed ex officio by the court;
c) the sentenced person, after being personally served with the judgment or probation decision rendered in absentia along with an instruction that he or she has the right to a retrial or an appeal, based on which proceedings may be held in which he or she shall have the right to participate and in which the facts found will be reassessed and new evidence presented, which might lead to the judgment or probation decision being varied, has expressly stated that he or she does not contest the decision rendered in absentia, or has not requested a retrial or submitted an appeal within an appropriate time limit.
(2) The court may, regardless of the existence of grounds for refusing recognition and execution of the judgment or decision, in agreement with the competent authority of the issuing State, recognise and execute the foreign judgment or probation decision, provided that the court will not have jurisdiction to take subsequent decisions.