Court Protection of the State Servants’ Rights in Disciplinary Procedures

U radu se daje prikaz sudbenih tijela (Upravni, Vrhovni i Ustavni sud te Europski sud za ljudska prava) pred kojima državni službenici mogu tražiti sudsku zaštitu protiv izvršnih (konačnih) odluka u disciplinskim postupcima, i to redoslijedom (obraćanja sudu) koji državni službenici moraju pritom poštovati. Uz analizu pozitvnog hrvatskog zakonodavstva, povijesni prikaz sudske zaštite državnih službenika i navođenje statističkih podataka o radu upravnih sudova, daje se i prikaz komparativnog zakonodavstva o zaštiti službenika pred upravnim sudovima. Zaključak je da je državnim službenicima Republike Hrvatske, iako je znatno ograničeno pravo na žalbu u upravnom sporu, osigurana bolja sudska zaštita nego je to bilo dosada. Postupak pred upravnim sudom vodi se kao spor pune jurisdikcije i zaštita pred Europskim sudom za ljudska prava osigurana je svim kategorijama državnih službenika. Predlaže se, s obzirom na zakonski prijedlog da u svim predmetima na prvom stupnju pred upravnim sudom sudi sudac pojedinac, ukidanje »filtra« za žalbu Visokom upravnom sudu, a ekonomičnost i efikasnost upravnog postupka i upravnog spora mogu se poboljšati ukidanjem drugog stupnja u upravnom postupku.The author outlines the judicial bodies (the High Administrative Court, administrative courts, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights) in which state servants of the Republic of Croatia can seek court protection against enforceable decisions in disciplinary procedures. The bodies are enumerated in the hierarchical order of appeal, which must be obeyed. The author analyses the Croatian legislation, describes the development of court protection of civil servants, provides statistical data on the performance of administrative courts, and performs a comparative analysis of the legislation related to the protection of civil servants in administrative courts. The paper proceeds by explaining the proceedings before the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, and the European Court of Human Rights. The explanation includes the court practice of the ECHR. It is concluded that state civil servants of the Republic of Croatia are now better protected in courts than before, but their right to appeal in administrative disputes is rather limited. The procedure before the administrative court is a dispute of full jurisdiction and the protection of the European Court of Human Rights is ensured to all the categories of civil servants. Considering the draft law proposal that all first-instance procedures in administrative courts are led by a single judge, it is suggested that the »filters« for appeal to the Supreme Court are abolished, and to improve the economy and efficiency of the administrative procedure and administrative dispute by abolishing the second instance of administrative procedure