Croatia
Practice Relating to Rule 99. Deprivation of Liberty
Croatia’s LOAC Compendium (1991) provides that “unlawful confinement” is a grave breach of IHL and a war crime.
Croatia’s Criminal Code (1997) provides that unlawful confinement of civilians is a war crime.
Croatia’s Criminal Code (1997), as amended to 2006, states that the “unlawful deportations [of civilians] to concentration camps or illegal detention” is a war crime.
In 2007, in its second periodic report to the Human Rights Committee, Croatia stated that its Constitution provides:
[N]o one shall be arrested or detained without a written court warrant issued on the basis of law. Such a warrant shall be read and served on the person being arrested. The police may arrest a person without a warrant when the person is reasonably suspected of having committed a serious criminal offence defined by law.
In 2007, in its second periodic report to the Human Rights Committee, Croatia stated that its Constitution provides that “[an] arrested person shall be promptly informed, in understandable terms, of the reasons for the arrest and of his or her rights determined by law”.
In 2007, in its second periodic report to the Human Rights Committee, Croatia stated that its Constitution provides: “Anyone who is detained and accused of a criminal offence shall have the right to be brought before the court within the shortest term specified by law, and to be acquitted or sentenced within the statutory term.”
In 2007, in its second periodic report to the Human Rights Committee, Croatia stated that its Constitution provides: “Any person arrested or detained shall have the right to take proceedings before a court, which shall decide without delay on the legality of the arrest.”