Initiation and registration

Contested procedure shall be initiated by filing a written claim by the claimant against the respondent (Article 252). The claim shall be filed with the Basic Court or the competent branch (Article 17).

Initially, the claim and the evidence and other case files shall be submitted to the admissions office, which protocols the claimant’s claim and sends it to the Case Management Office (CMO).

Assigning the case to a Judge

The Case Management Office registers and creates the case and assigns the identification number.

Case shall be assigned to a judge by draw, electronically.

Preliminary claim examination and the response to the claim

The court, respectively the designated judge, immediately after receiving the case, shall initiate the preliminary examination of the claim, Article 389 of LCP to verify the parties’ legitimacy and the regularity of the claim to which the certification should be attached on the payment of court fee (Article 253.4)

If the claim is regular and complete, the court shall send the claim and the case files to the respondent for response within 15 days.

The respondent within the time limit of 15 days shall submit in writing the response to the claim (Article 394).

Once the response to the claim arrives, the court as a rule shall schedule the preparatory session within 30 days (Article 400). The invitation for preparatory session shall be sent to the parties 7 days before the scheduled date (Article 402.2.).

Preparatory session

Preparatory session shall begin with the presentation of the claim, followed by the respondent presenting the response to the claim (Article 403.1.).

At the preparatory session, parties shall state their allegations and present proposals for securing of evidence e.g. hearing of witnesses, etc.

Parties throughout the procedure may resolve their dispute by court settlement (article 412) or

• mediation procedure (Article 411.1).

The court as a rule shall propose to the parties to settle their dispute by mediation or court settlement.

If a court settlement is reached, the court shall issue a ruling accepting the court settlement (Article 414.1).

Depending on the outcome of the preparatory session, the court will decide on the object of the session and evidence to be taken at the main hearing of the case.

If the respondent does not appear at the preparatory session, the session shall continue only with the claimant (Article 409.2.), and if the claimant does not appear, the claim is considered withdrawn (Article 409.1).

Scheduling the main hearing and invitations

At the preparatory session the court schedules the main hearing (Article 420). Invitations to the main hearing may be communicated to the parties directly through the minutes of the preparatory session or by special invitations shall be sent to the parties at least 7 days before the main hearing.

The respondent is entitled to file a counterclaim until the end of the preparatory session or, if preparatory session was not held, until the first session of the main hearing.

Main Hearing Session

The case judge shall declare the opening of the hearing and the subject of the hearing as well as confirm the appearance of the invitees and states the reasons of non-appearance in the session as well as the regularity of the invitation of those who have not come. The procedure at the main hearing is conducted orally.

If the respondent does not appear at the main hearing session, the session shall continue only with the claimant (Article 423.4.), and if the claimant does not appear, the claim is considered withdrawn. 423.3

Upon completion of all stages of the main hearing and after getting ready for resolution of the dispute, the court shall declare the main hearing closed.

Rendering of the Decision

Upon completion of the main hearing, the court shall render a final decision within 15 days, which may be a judgment or a ruling (Article 153).

• Through judgment the court decides on the main matter and the additional claims (Article 143), whereas
• Through a ruling the court decides on obstruction of possession, enforcement procedure and issues related to the expropriation of immovable property.

Appeals procedure against first instance decisions

The disgruntled party may file an appeal against a judgment to the Court of Appeals through the Basic Court (Article 176).

The appeal may be filed within 15 days after service of judgment to the parties.

In labor disputes and trade disputes, the deadline for filing the appeal is 7 days.

The party may waive the right to appeal from the time the judgment is served until the decision of the Court of Appeals (Article 177) has been rendered. 

If no appeal is filed within the legal deadline, the judgment becomes final.

Dismissal of the appeal by the court

The court, once it accepts the appeal of the party, shall examine and by a ruling may dismiss the appeal if the appeal is:

• overdue;
• incomplete;
• inadmissible (Article 186).

Response to appeal

The opposing party has the right to respond to the appeal.

The deadline for responding to the claim is 7 days from the submission of the appeal to the opposing party (Article 187).

In trade disputes this deadline is 3 days.

Within the deadline of 7 days upon receipt of response to appeal, the Basic Court or the competent branch submits the appeal to the Court of Appeal and all the case files (Article 188).

Initiation and registration

Out-contentious procedure shall be initiated by the proposal of:

• natural person
• legal person; or
• by the proposal of a state body as provided by the Law on Out Contentious Procedure or any other law.

Out contentious procedure shall be initiated by the court ex-officio only in cases and under requirements provided by the Law on Out Contentious Procedure or any other law.

Initially, the proposal and the evidence and other case files shall be submitted to the admissions office, which protocols the Proposal’s and sends it to the Case Management Office (CMO).

Assigning the case to a Judge

The Case Management Office registers and creates the case and assigns the identification number.

Case shall be assigned to a judge by draw, electronically.

Participants in the out-contentious procedure:

• the entity that initiated the procedure,
• the entity whose interests and subjective rights are being reviewed and adjudicated in the procedure, and
• the state body participating in the procedure on the basis of legal authorization.

Out-contentious procedure is conducted in two sessions:

• preparatory session, and
• the main hearing session.

After the conclusion of the main trial session, the court renders the final decision.

In out contentious procedure, decisions are rendered in the form of judgment
 

Rendering a Ruling

The court, by a ruling, may decide to:

• uphold (in whole or in part) the proposer’s proposal;
• reject the proposer’s proposal.

Appeals procedure

Against first instance judgment appeal may be filed to the Court of Appeals within 15 days from the day of serving the judgment, unless the law provides otherwise.

Procedure by extraordinary means

Parties may exercise extraordinary remedies against the decision of the Court of Appeal before the Supreme Court, such as:

• Revision (only in statutory, residential matters and in compensation for expropriated immovable property)
• Proposal for repetition of the procedure;