As the newest Party to the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (OECD Anti-Bribery Convention) since January 2024, Croatia has already begun demonstrating its commitment to fighting foreign bribery by raising awareness of foreign bribery and amending legislation to implement the Convention. However, corporate enforcement of bribery laws has been rare. Allegations of Croatian companies and individuals bribing foreign officials have not led to any formal investigations or convictions, according to the latest report from the OECD Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions.
The report recommends changes to Croatia's legislation and practices. The law does not clearly prohibit bribing foreign legislators to perform non-voting acts. Undue payments to a foreign official to perform acts outside their competence have not yet been prosecuted as bribery in practice. Rules on jurisdiction over companies need clarification. Confiscation against bribe-givers is almost never imposed in practice. A new whistleblowing law is positive but should be extended in several respects.
The 46-country Working Group has just completed its Phase 2 evaluation of Croatia's implementation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and related instruments. In addition to the aspects highlighted above, the report details further areas for improving the prevention, detection, and enforcement of foreign bribery in Croatia.
The Working Group has accordingly recommended that, among other things, Croatia:
Hold companies liable for foreign bribery and proactively investigate credible allegations.
Clearly prohibit the bribery of foreign legislators to perform non-voting acts.
Clarify corporate jurisdiction for foreign bribery.
Increase confiscation against bribe-givers.
Further reduce delay in criminal proceedings.
The report also highlights positive aspects of Croatia's efforts to fight foreign bribery. Croatia raised awareness of the Convention and further efforts are planned. Whistleblowing has been significantly promoted. Croatia has commendably repealed a dual criminality requirement for the money laundering offence. In 2023, improvements to Croatia's criminal and tax legislation facilitated its accession to the Convention.
The Working Group adopted the Phase 2 evaluation report on Croatia on 13 December 2024. The report overviews Croatia's legal and institutional frameworks for fighting foreign bribery and how these frameworks are applied in practice. By December 2026, Croatia will report in writing to the Working Group on the implementation of all of the report's recommendations and on its foreign bribery enforcement efforts. This written report will be publicly available.
