Doing business in Croatia: Mandatory e-communication

Companies wanting to set up a business in Croatia or provide services there from an EU or EEA country must register their company for “e-communication”. All legal proceedings are handled via this information system. Registration is mandatory, even without a specific reason. The Ecovis experts explain the details.

In 2019, Croatia implemented a string of reforms aimed at the digitalisation and general acceleration of judicial processes. One such reform was the amendment to Article 133 of the Civil Procedure Act (Official Gazette no.70/2019), which introduced the mandatory use of electronic communication with courts (“e-communication”) for legal entities. Although the obligation has been in place since 2020, a large percentage of companies founded by foreigners do not comply and therefore face serious consequences. In principle, the obligation comes into force for new companies on the day they are founded. If they do not comply with the obligation, they may be sued, and money may be withdrawn from their accounts without them knowing about the proceedings. This must be avoided.

Who is required to use electronic communication

The legislation applies to essentially all legal entities and natural persons who perform a registered activity (in disputes concerning that activity). This includes, for example, state bodies, the state attorney’s office, lawyers, notaries public, court experts, court appraisers, court interpreters, bankruptcy trustees etc.

In what types of proceedings is electronic communication used

E-communication is mandatory in all commercial and civil litigations, enforcement procedures and administrative disputes. It is not used for company registration purposes, land-registry matters and general administrative procedures, explain the Ecovis experts.

E-communication is used by all commercial, civil, administrative, municipal and county courts, as well as the High Commercial Court, Supreme Court, High Criminal Court and High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia.

What is sent by e-communication

The e-communication system is used for sending lawsuits, resolutions and judgements; for submitting written statements, submissions, delivering documents, submitting legal remedies and generally for every aspect of communication in the prescribed types of proceedings. The aim is to fully replace submissions in paper form. It also provides full remote access to court case files.

We support you in setting up e-communication and, if necessary, using it correctly.

Ema Kalogjera Juranić, Attorney at law, HAČIĆ KALOGJERA JURANIĆ Law Firm Ltd.*, Zagreb, Croatia

How to register

All those legally obliged to do so, including legal persons, must request access to the courts’ e-communication system, whether they are involved in any ongoing court proceedings or not. The following is required for registration:

• Registration with the internal registry of the Ministry of Justice
• Electronic credentials level 3 or higher
• Signature certificate used to sign documents with a qualified electronic signature

Who should obtain digital credentials and how?

Just as ID cards and passports are used daily to prove a person’s identity, in the digital world, electronic (digital) credentials are used for the same purpose.

Any person authorised to represent a company should have an electronic credential, not just for electronic communication, but for business transactions – especially with the tax administration. To obtain a (free) digital credential in Croatia, this person must be one of the following:

• A Croatian citizen
• An EU citizen with residence in Croatia
• A foreign national with residence in Croatia
• A digital nomad
• An EU citizen through a cross-border cooperation

Where a company representative does not meet any of the above criteria, they can have a representative in Croatia who will be tasked with electronic communication with the courts only.

Croatian digital services re quire credentials with 3 levels of security: a high level of security (3), a significant level of security (2) and a low level of security (1). All digital services and digital credentials fall into one of these levels of security. The level 3 (high security) credentials allow the holder to access all e-services in Croatia, which includes e-communication.

The definition of the security levels as well as the criteria for assessing the quality and the level of security of authentication are governed by the criteria as set out in Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market.

The consequences of not registering

The most severe consequence is that a company/legal entity would not be able to react in due time to claims and court decisions (judgments). This could result in judgments/decisions being made in favour of the plaintiff, claims being accepted and decisions going against the company/legal entity (default judgments).

Moreover, the company/legal entity would not be able to file its own submissions to the court and thus actively participate in the proceedings.

For further information please contact:

Ema Kalogjera Juranić, Attorney at law, HAČIĆ KALOGJERA JURANIĆ Law Firm Ltd.*, Zagreb, Croatia
Email: ema.kalogjera@hkj-legal.hr