The recognition of decisions on financial penalties received (forwarded by the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration) shall be within the competence of municipal courts according to the place where the natural person concerned resides or is domiciled, or where the legal person concerned has its registered seat, or according to the place where these persons have property or income.
Grounds for non-recognition and non-execution
The court shall refuse to recognise and execute a decision on financial penalties if:
1. the certificate is not submitted, is incomplete, or manifestly does not correspond to the decision, and it has not been completed or corrected by the issuing State within a specified time limit;
2. the final decision against the same person in respect of the same offence has already been rendered by a domestic court or by a court in another Member State, and, in the latter case, that decision has been executed;
3. the decision relates to an act referred to in Article 77(2) of this Act which does not constitute a punishable act under domestic law;
4. the financial penalty is below EUR 70.00 or the equivalent to that amount at the rate of exchange obtaining on the date the decision on financial penalties was brought.
The court may, guided by the principles of efficient cooperation, expediency and right to a fair trial, decide whether to execute or to refuse to recognise and execute a decision on financial penalties if it establishes that:
1. the execution of the decision is statute-barred according to domestic law and the decision relates to an act which falls within the competence of the Republic of Croatia under its own law;
2. the decision relates to acts which:
a) have been committed in whole or in part in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, or
b) have been committed outside the territory of the issuing State and domestic law does not allow prosecution for the same offence committed outside the territory of the Republic of Croatia;
3. the person concerned benefits from an immunity under the domestic law;
4. the decision has been imposed on a person on whom, according to domestic law, a financial penalty cannot be imposed owing to his or her age;
5. according to the certificate referred to in Article 87(2) of this Act, the decision on financial penalties was rendered without hearing, and the person concerned was not, in accordance with the law of the issuing State, informed personally or via a representative of his or her right to contest the decision and of the time limits to do so;
6. according to the certificate referred to in Article 87(2) of this Act, the person to whom the decision relates did not appear personally at the hearing at which that decision was rendered, unless the certificate states that, in accordance with the requirements prescribed by the national law of the issuing State:
a) the 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 decision on financial penalties 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 person was represented at the hearing by a defence counsel authorised by him or her or appointed ex officio by the court;
c) the person, after being personally served with the decision on financial penalties 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 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;
7. according to the certificate referred to in Article 87(2) of this Act, the person to whom the decision relates did not appear personally at the hearing at which that decision was rendered, unless the certificate states that the person, having been notified of the proceedings against him or her and of the possibility of appearing personally at the hearing, expressly renounced the right to a personal hearing and stated expressly that he or she does not contest the case;
(3) In the cases referred to in paragraph 1 and paragraph 2 points 1, 5, 6 and 7 of this Article, the court shall, where appropriate, before deciding not to recognise and execute a decision, either totally or in part, contact the competent authority in the issuing State and ask it to submit supplementary information necessary for a decision to be brought and set a time limit of no more than seven working days for its submission