Izvršenje presuda Europskog suda za ljudska prava u građanskopravnim međunarodnim otmicama djece u Republici Hrvatskoj – nova otvorena pitanja

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) established a violation of the (European) Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) in several cases of international parental child abduction before Croatian courts. The length and the manner in which the proceedings concerning the return of the child were conducted constituted grounds for establishment of a violation of the right to a fair trial and the right to respect for private and family life. The execution of these judgments is still pending before the Committee of Ministers, despite the fact that the measures ordered resulted with a modified Croatian legal regime introduced through the Act on the Application of the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The Act includes a number of procedural improvements which align the practice of Croatian courts with international and European standards. However, the judgment of the ECtHR in Adžić v Croatia (no. 2) reveals that there is still no unambiguous answer to the question whether extraordinary appellate proceedings should be permitted in child abduction cases. Hence, the authors critically analyse the possibility of initiating an extraordinary appellate proceedings in these cases from a civil procedure and private international law aspect. The conclusion takes into account the specific circumstances of the case at hand as well as the case law of the ECtHR in relevant cases concerning other contracting states.