IZMIJENJENI ORIJENTACIJSKI KRITERIJI ZA NAKNADU NEMATERIJALNE ŠTETE VRHOVNOG SUDA REPUBLIKE HRVATSKE (NEKA OTVORENA PITANJA U PRIMJENI I SUDSKOJ PRAKSI)
MODIFIED ORIENTATION CRITERIA FOR NON-MATERIAL DAMAGES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA (SOME OPEN QUESTIONS IN APPLICATION AND JUDICAL PRACTICE)

Summary/Abstract: It is a fact that the Orientation Criteria of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia from 2002 survived the significant legal change in the concept of nonmaterial harm suffered and fair financial compensation (Civil Obligations Act 05), and that they remained unchanged in implementation for many years. This in itself is a confirmation of their value, so it can be concluded that, regardless of individual shortcomings, they achieved the purpose and goal for which they were adopted, they significantly contributed to the uniformity of judicial practice in the application of legal provisions on fair financial compensation, and thus to the equality of all in their application law, legal certainty and the rule of law. The problems that arose in the period of their relatively short implementation related to their retroactive effects and in this connection their pressure on the derogation and/or interpretation of existing procedural and materially already established legal rules, led to conflicting legal understandings and divided judicial practice. Due to their content and method of adoption, the amended Orientation Criteria caused the opposite effects from those for which they were adopted. Thus, the issues of their content and vagueness were again brought up to date. Socio-economic and financial developments after their adoption, galloping inflation, slowing down of the wage growth index, decreasing real purchasing power of money additionally actualize the issue of adopting new Orientation Criteria. They should reflect the legal changes from Civil Obligations Act/05, the new understanding and conception of non-material harm suffered and fair financial compensation. Ultimately, they should also determine the mechanisms for changing the amount of fair financial compensation on a periodic basis automatically, in order to enable the injured parties and those responsible for compensation to know at all times, even for orientation, how much financial compensation they are entitled to and which are their obligations. And the most important thing, there would have to be no interpretation that enables retroactive implementation of compensation legal relationships that arose in the past, before the adoption of new standards.

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