Pravo i porezi 5/2012

The author of the article presents the overview of the still unsolved issues of the legal regulations regarding collective negotiations and collective agreements in the Republic of Croatia, explaining the current situation, followed by the ideas on the need to change them. The article presents the provisions of the Labour Act, including its application in practice as well as the main issues burdening the collective labour relations, as the relations arising from or related to collective negotiations and collective agreements. Besides, the author proposes certain solutions of the issues and states some solutions made and offered by the government and the opposing party.

A trial period at work, which cannot last longer than six months and cannot be prolonged, must be contracted, which depends on the employee and the employer. The trial period is determend by law and represents the period which in an objective way enables the realization of the goals of trial work. The goal of the trial work for the employer is to check up the professional and other abilities of the employee in order to determine whether the employee meets the requirements of the working position, working needs and whether the employee has become acquainted with the conditions of the working post and has properly estimated his/her ability to meet the needed requirements. During the trial period the employee has the same rights and obligations from the labour relation as other employees who do not work on a trial period.

The author of the article explains the transformation of the state-owned property into the privately owned property and analyzes the legal framework according to which such a transformation is to be completed. The article presents the specifics which arise upon the transformation of the state-owned construction land.

Credit Payment Protection Insurance Contract (CPPIC) is a new product which appeared on the Croatian insurance market. This insurance contract delineates the conditions under which the debt existing according to the credit contract is repaid by the insurer when the debtor (the insured party) is unable to pay the debt due to a loss or reduction of income. The insured risks that may result in a loss or reduction of income include: death, loss of ability to work (permanent or temporary), loss of employment (termination of employment, etc.). The amounts of the sum insured are paid directly on the bank account (the creditor’s account), thereby reducing the debt that the debtor (the insured party) owes to the bank. This insurance contract thereby also serves as the creditor’s alternative security instrument for claiming the sums of money given in the contract. In the event of death or permanent loss of ability to work, the insurance coverage pays off the entire remaining debt existing according to the credit contract. In the event of loss of employment or temporary inability to work, the terms and conditions of the contract stipulate the number of the instalments of loan which need to be paid. The article also deals with the critical remarks made about this type of insurance contract in the field of comparative law as well as the certain proposals for reform.

The amendments to the Act on Electronical Communications from 2011 completely changed the provisions regarding the spam electronical communications. In the contemporary business operations the electronical communication with customers has become rather important. However, due to the fact that the misuse of the email (sending a large number of spam promotional and fake messages) has become a serious problem, the Croatian law-maker has implemented the latest legal framework of the European Union into the national regulation, which determines a spam and forbidden electronical message and a welcome and acceptable message in the business world. Since the regulation is strict and the fines are high, those who send business messages by an email are recommended to get acquainted with the current legal framework.

The legislation on the public procurement includes various types of guarantees as securities of settlement of one’s liabilities. The first demand bank guarantee in the public procurement system is the most reliable means of security against the risk or unfulfilment or undue fulfilment of the bidder’s liabilities. It represents a legally binding document for the bank, due to the fact that the bank takes over the fulfilment of the liabilities of its client (principal) to the guarantee beneficiary in case the stated conditions in the guarantee have been fulfilled. The quality of the guarantee and its collectibility depends on the bank, which stands behind it, and the text of the guarantee document itself. The Croatian legal theory distinguishes between the accessory bank guarantee, which was issued on the basis of a guarantee, and the independent bank guarantee, which was issued on the basis of the independent guarantee contracts. The first demand bank guarantees in the system of public procurement have frequently been used in the practice.

Članak razmatra sustav državne uprave u Republici Hrvatskoj na dan 30. travnja 2012. Rad se ograničava na katalogizaciju tijela državne uprave i njihova unutarnjeg ustrojstva, ne ulazeći u djelokrug tijela državne uprave, službeničke odnose niti u problematiku ustrojstva lokalne i područne (regionalne) samouprave, pravnih osoba s javnim osobama i drugih tijela javne vlasti.

During the taxation procedure a tax body is frequently unable to solve the tax case without solving the independent legal entity (previous issue). A previous issue represents an issue which makes up an independent legal entity. It is to be solved by the competent court or some other legal body. Without solving the previous issue it is not possible to solve a concrete tax case, which is the subject of the taxation procedure. In the case when the previous issue appears in the taxation procedure, it is solved by the subsidiary application of the provisions of the Act on General Administrative Procedure, which regulates the solving of such an issue according to the provisions of the General Taxation Act. Without solving the previous issue it is not possible to solve the main issue either, whether the previous issue is solved by the tax body, the competent court or some public legal body.

The new Directive on Payment Accounts determines which taxes, contributions and other public payments are paid in 2012. Such accounts have for the first time been formed according to the IBAN construction. Taxes, contributions and other public payments can be paid in the previous way until 1 July 2013, unless the bank has introduced the new construction of the payment accounts earlier.

The latest provisions of the Act on Court Register from 2011 determine that a company and other entered entities (e.g. a sole trader, a branch office, etc.) which do not have any assets or have the assets of a minor value and which did not comply with the corresponding regulations within the set period, will be deleted from the court register according to the decision made by the competent office of the Tax Administration or ex officio. The assets of the minor value are regarded the assets which are not sufficient to settle the costs of the bankruptcy procedure and for which the costs of their conversion into cash are higher than their market value. The procedure of deleting ex officio is carried out if the company did not comply its regulations with the regulations it should have complied with within the determined period, i.e. if the company did not three years in a row act according to the legal obligation, which refers to the publishing of its financial reports with the corresponding documents, in the case when such an obligation is determined by law.

The obligation of the Republic of Croatia to comply with the acquis communautaire of the European Union is fulfilled within the planned peiods. However, the national legal framework has permanently been faced with temptations. Such temptations are not reflected in the obligation of implementation but the way of implementation in the national legislation, in order to adjust the implemented solutions to the existing legislation and the European requirements in the best way. Such an implementation is most frequently carried out by the translation of the European enactments without subsequent compliance of the remaining legislation. Consequently, in the practice there are numerous unadjusted texts of acts on the both vertical and horizontal levels. In the European Union the regulation of the services is going a long way without the final compliance of the national legislations with the legislation of the European Union. The process of harmonization started through the practice of the European Court, followed by the coding, as it is the case with the implementation of the Directive 2006/123/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 on services in the internal market.