The subject of this doctoral dissertation is state liability for damage caused by courts in Croatian, European and comparative law. The doctoral thesis firstly analyses the general legal regulation of the liability of the Republic of Croatia for damage caused by its public bodies. An overview of the rules of international law which pertain to state liability for damage caused by courts is then presented, as well as the rules which pertain to the principle of independence and impartiality of judges. The central and largest part of the thesis is dedicated to advantages and disadvantages of the contemporary regulation of this liability in Croatian law, where the most relevant case law and opinions of legal scholarship about the applicable provisions of the Courts act are presented. The infringement of the right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time as the so-called inefficient work of courts is also analyzed, as well as an unjustified conviction or unfounded arrest or detention as special grounds of state liability for damage caused by courts. The thesis also examines the relation between the disciplinary liability of judges for disciplinary offences which they commit in exercising their judicial duties and the civil liability of the state for damage caused to the parties by the aforementioned disciplinary offenses. The research then focuses to the liability of the state for damage caused by infringements of European law by national courts of member states of the European union and on three different regimes of state liability for damage caused by courts in comparative law. Finally, the conclusion of the thesis provides a synthesis of all information accumulated by the research and de lege ferenda suggestions for the improvement of legal rules by which state liability for damage caused by courts is regulated in the Croatian legal system.