During the period 2003-2004, Croatia continued to experience significant changes under the new Government of Prime Minister Sanader, particularly in its bid for accession to the EU.
Sanader, along with President Mesic, continued the reform process begun in 2000 which brought Croatia out of the international isolation that it suffered under Tudjman’s previous regime.
Croatia introduced judicial reform in 2003 but the implementation has been relatively slow, and the judiciary continues to suffer from perceived political bias and significant backlogs. Croatia had increased cooperation with the ICTY in the surrender of suspects and in responding to requests for information. But in domestic cases, certain judges have demonstrated ethnic bias against Serbs.
In 2003, Croatia sought to harmonize its domestic criminal law with international standards so that domestic courts would be competent to prosecute cases transferred from the ICTY.
Republic of Croatia-Attacks on Justice 2005-Publications-2008 (full text, PDF)