Law Firm Haracic + Partners represented the plaintiff in case no. 43 0 P 253343 25 Gž, conducted before the Municipal Court in Zenica based on a lawsuit filed in 2024. The plaintiff sought payment and reserved the right to specify the claim in accordance with the expert’s findings and opinion.
After the preparatory hearing, where the plaintiff proposed that the expert be tasked with determining the amount of the payment, the defendant committed an abuse of procedural rights by admitting the statement of claim and requesting the court to immediately render a judgment based on admission, in accordance with Article 180 of the Civil Procedure Code of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CPC FBiH). The Basic Court in Zenica rendered a first-instance judgment based on admission.
However, the plaintiff filed an appeal with the second-instance court, and the appeal was upheld – the Cantonal Court in Zenica issued a decision annulling the first-instance judgment and remanding the case for retrial, on the grounds that the defendant abused his procedural rights.
In its Decision no. 43 0 P 253343 25 Gž, the Cantonal Court in Zenica stated that the defendant made the declaration of admission of the statement of claim with the intention of preventing the plaintiff from amending the claim to increase its value, and that by acting unlawfully, the first-instance court prevented the plaintiff from having a regular trial before the court.
The Cantonal Court further stated that the first-instance court acted erroneously by rendering a judgment based on admission without further deliberation, incorrectly concluding that the requirements under Article 180 CPC FBiH were met.
The Cantonal Court in its Decision held that the court is authorised to assess whether the admission of the statement of claim was made with the intent to prevent the plaintiff from amending the claim, and if so, the court may disregard such procedural action by the defendant. This legal opinion is also reflected in the ruling of the Supreme Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina no. Pž-376/88 of 31 May 1989, published in the Bulletin of the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH no. 2/89.
Article 180(2) of the Civil Procedure Code stipulates: “The court shall not render a judgment based on admission even when the formal requirements are met, if it finds that the claim concerns rights over which the parties may not freely dispose.”
