The fifth harmonization package, which entered into force on February 4th, 2003, includes provisions on retrial and on the freedom of association.

The amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Code of Civil Procedure introduced with the third package concerned retrial on the basis of European Court of Human Rights decisions. The fifth package removed the criterion “the violation … is seen to have had consequences that cannot be compensated” from law and made it possible for all Court judgments of violation to be considered for retrial, subject to a time limit of one year after the publication of the law for decisions already finalized and one year after the finalization of future verdicts. The fifth package also amended the provisions on retrial to ensure immediate application and implementation and deleted from law the Court of Cassation evaluation of the application of retrial and introduced the principle of evaluation by the court that gave the first judgment.

The amendment to Article 82 of the Law on Associations replaced prison terms with fines for offences such as failure to obtain permission for contacts with foreign associations and organizations, failure to fulfil the obligations concerning auditing or failure to declare real estate in possession.