On June 2, 2023, in its plenary session, the Croatian Parliament discussed, and on June 7, 2023, adopted the Ombudswoman’s Annual Report for 2021, thus expressing support for the recommendations contained therein aimed at stronger protection of human rights in Croatia. At the same time it was enphasized that it would be extremely important for the Croatian Parliament to discuss and adopt the new 2022 Annual Report, submitted in March, as soon as possible, as this woul contribute to a higher level of the recommendations’ fulfillment.
The importance of a timely discussion was one of the main topics discussed at the plenary session, along with the topics covered by the report – the right to health, the right to work, the rights of older persons, discrimination and the rights of national minorities, the right to good governance and many others.

The Ombudswoman’s annual report is an analysis and an assessment of the state of human rights and equality in Croatia. Its 2021 edition contains 156 recommendations aimed at the improvement of the situation of the citizens’ rights. It also contains numerous novelties compared to the previous report, including new (sub)chapters on the right to good governance, human rights defenders, the impact of artificial intelligence on human rights and equality, the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgmentsin relation to the Republic of Croatia and challenges faced by platform workers.

The report primarily draws on the 5,769 cases in which the Ombudswoman acted during the course of 2021. Of these, 4,562 cases were opened that year, most of them (3,480) based on complaints from citizens or on our own initiative. The most numerous were complaints about discrimination (469), the right to health (433), labor rights (309) and rights related to justice (245).
The Parliament adopted this Report with 108 votes in favor, three abstentions and one against.