Accelerated procedure

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General (scope, grounds for accelerated procedures, time limits)

According to the LITP the Ministry shall take a decision in an accelerated procedure where:[1]

1. The applicant has presented only facts which are irrelevant to an assessment of the merits of the application;
2. The applicant has consciously misled the Ministry by presenting false information or unreliable documents, or by not providing relevant information or by concealing documents which could have had a negative effect on the decision;
3. The applicant in bad faith has probably acted and destroyed documents that establish identity and/or nationality with the aim to provide false information about his or her identity and/or nationality;
4. The applicant has presented inconsistent, contradictory, manifestly inaccurate or unconvincing statements contrary to the verified information on the country of origin, rendering his/her application unreliable;
5. A subsequent application is admissible;
6. The applicant has already resided for a longer period of time in the Republic of Croatia and for no justifiable reason failed to express his or her intention to apply for international protection earlier;
7. The applicant expressed the intention to apply for international protection for the clear purpose of postponing or preventing the enforcement of a decision which would result in his or her expulsion from the Republic of Croatia;
8. The applicant represents a risk for the national security or public order of the Republic of Croatia;
9. It is possible to apply the concept of Safe Country of Origin; or
10. The applicant has refused to give fingerprints.

The Department for International Protection Procedure within the Ministry of Interior is responsible for taking decisions in accelerated procedures. The LITP has set a two-month deadline for completing the accelerated procedure, failing which the application is transferred to the regular procedure.[2]

The provisions of LITP related to accelerated procedure shall not apply to applicants who are in need of special procedural guarantees, especially victims of torture, rape, or another form of serious psychological, physical, or sexual violence, if it is not possible to provide the appropriate support.[3] Those provisions shall neither apply to applications of unaccompanied children, except when a subsequent application is admissible; or the applicant represents a risk to the national security or public order of the Republic of Croatia; or it is possible to apply the concept of a safe country of origin.[4]

In 2023, 2 applications for international protection were processed in accelerated procedure (one national of Monte Negro, one national of Serbia) based on the concept of safe country of origin. During 2023, neither applications from unaccompanied minors, nor from applicants in need of special procedural guarantees were processed in the accelerated procedure.[5]

Personal interview

The same provisions from the LITP on the personal interview in a regular procedure apply to the one in accelerated procedures. That means that the interview in accelerated procedure is not held only in specific cases prescribed by the LITP, i.e., when:

• A positive decision on application may be taken on the basis of the available evidence;
• In cases when an applicant is unfit or unable to be interviewed, owing to enduring circumstances beyond his or her control; or
• The admissibility of a subsequent application is being assessed.[6]

The Department for International Protection Procedure of the Ministry of Interior is responsible for conducting the interviews and taking a decision.

Appeal

The Administrative Court is the competent appeal body in the accelerated procedure, so there is no difference in the authority responsible for handling the lawsuit compared to the regular procedure. However, time limits are shorter: a lawsuit may be lodged to the Administrative Court within eight days from the delivery of the decision of the Ministry of Interior.[7]

Moreover, lawsuits against negative decisions in the accelerated procedures do not have suspensive effect.[8] The applicant can apply for suspensive effect. The Ministry of Interior shall deliver the case file, no later than 8 days from the day of receipt of the decision by which the Administrative Court requests the case file in order to decide on the request for suspensive effect and the Court has to decide on it within eight days from the receipt of case file. However, lawsuits against decisions in cases where the applicant has already resided for a longer period of time in the Republic of Croatia and for no justifiable reason failed to express his or her intention to apply for international protection earlier never have suspensive effect, i.e., there is no possibility to request suspensive effect.[9]

Legal assistance

The same provisions from the LITP as regards access to free legal assistance for applicants in the regular procedure for international protection apply for access to free legal assistance during an accelerated procedure, meaning that free legal aid includes assistance in the preparation of a lawsuit to the Administrative Court and representation before the Administrative Court, if requested by the applicant (see section on Regular Procedure: Legal Assistance).

[1] Article 41(1) LITP.

[2] Article 41(1) LITP.

[3] Article 15(3) LITP.

[4] Article 17 (10) LITP.

[5] Information provided by the Ministry of Interior, 8 March 2024.

[6] Article 35(8) LITP.

[7] Article 41(5) LITP.

[8] Article 51(1)(1) LITP.

[9] Article 51(1)(2) LITP, citing Article 41(1)(6) LITP.