Composition of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia

From left to right - bottom row: Goran Selanec, Snježana Bagić, Miroslav Šeparović (President), Ingrid Antičević Marinović, Mato Arlović
From left to right - upper row: Davorin Mlakar, Andrej Abramović, Miroslav Šumanović, Branko Brkić, Josip Leko, Mario Jelušić, Lovorka Kušan, Rajko Mlinarić

BAGIĆ, SNJEŽANA (1961), LL D

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 December 2007 - 6 June 2016)
Deputy President (12 June 2012 - 6 June 2016)
Judge of the Constitutional Court (7June 2016 - )
Deputy President (13 June 2016 - 12 June 2018)
Deputy President (13 June 2018 - 12 June 2020)
Deputy President (16 June 2020 - 15 June 2022)
Deputy President (16 June 2022 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1983. Passed the bar examination in 1986. Gained her LL D in European Law at the Faculty of Law of the Zagreb University in 2014. She defended a doctoral thesis on "The Principle of Proportionality in the Case-law of European Courts and its Impact on the Case-law of Croatian Courts".

From 1983 to 1984 she worked in the Law Office of Vjekoslav Gršić and from 1984 to 1991 in the Croatian Railway Company as an independent officer for representation in property rights. From 1991 she was employed at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia as adviser, head of the Civil Law Department at the Property Rights Directorate, and assistant director of the Civil Law Directorate. She was appointed Secretary of the Ministry in 1995, and in 1997 she became Deputy Minister of Justice and Head of the Office for Cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice. From 2000 to 2003 she was head of the Office for Legislation of the Croatian Government. She was elected judge of the Zagreb County Court in 2003, and in 2004 she became State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, which she remained until her election as judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia.   

She was member of the Croatian delegation for resolving property rights disputes with the Republics of Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia; member of the negotiation team with the Republic of Slovenia on resolving the commitments of the Republics of Croatia and Slovenia towards the Republic of Italy deriving from the Osim Agreements; member of the Mixed Commission for Political Issues of the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Italy; member of the State Commission for Resolving Property Rights Issues with the Former Republic of Yugoslavia;  member of the Croatian Government Commission for research into historical facts about the outcome of Nazi victim property and member of the Mixed Commission for the Restoration of Church Property. She was member of the Council for Monitoring the Implementing the Justice Reform Strategy, coordinator of the Croatian Government for succession issues and head of the Croatian delegation in the Joint Permanent Committee for Implementing the Agreement on Succession Issues. Since 2005 she has been member of the Negotiating Team for Accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union in charge of Chapter 23: Judiciary and Fundamental Human Rights, and Chapter 24: Justice, Freedom and Security, and head of the Judiciary and Internal Affairs Subcommittee of the Stabilisation and Accession Committee of the Republic of Croatia.

She is author of the book "The Principle of Proportionality in the Case-law of European Courts and the Croatian Constitutional Court (with particular emphasis to property issues)" (2016) and many professional and research papers in civil law. She is co-author of the book "Commentary of the Compensation Act" (1997).

She has participated in the drafting of many laws and coordinated work on the projects related to harmonisation and computerisation of the land register and cadastre. She has participated and presented papers in many national and international scholarly and professional conferences, symposiums and other gatherings.

ABRAMOVIĆ, ANDREJ (1966)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1993. Passed the Bar Examination in 1995. After graduating, he worked first in the law firm of Juraj Vedirna and then in the law firm of Milorad Čađenović, where he worked until 1996 when he was elected judge of Zagreb Municipal Court. From 2007 to 2012 he was judge at Zagreb Municipal Civil Court, where for a certain time he headed the group for media lawsuits. From 2012 until he was elected judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, he was judge at Zagreb Administrative Court, and acted as its President. He was member of the Ministry of Justice working group for monitoring and implementing the Administrative Disputes Act.

He is the author of several professional papers in civil and civil procedural law as well as in administrative and constitutional law. He has participated and presented papers in many national and international scholarly and professional symposiums, seminars, congresses and other gatherings.

ANTIČEVIĆ MARINOVIĆ, INGRID (1957)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Split in 1980. Passed the Bar Examination in 1982, and the notary public examination in 1994.

Began her court traineeship at the District Court in Zadar in 1980, and also worked at the Municipal Court in Zadar until 1982, when she started work at the law firm of Marko Marinović, attorney in Zadar. She was enrolled in the Register of Attorneys on 1 October 1984, as the first woman attorney in Zadar. In 1996, she was co-founder of the law firm “Marinović-Antičević” and continued to work there as an attorney until 2000. She was elected Member of the Croatian Parliament for five consecutive convocations from 2000 to 2015, during which she performed and held various functions: during the convocation of 2000 - 2003, she was president of the Legislation Committee, member of the Judiciary Committee and of the delegation of the Croatian Parliament to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe; during the convocation of 2003 - 2008, she was vice-president of the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and the Political System, member of the Legislation Committee, the Judiciary Committee, the delegation of the Croatian Parliament to the EU - Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee, the State Attorney Council from the ranks of Members of Parliament, and the National Council for Monitoring the Implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy; during the convocation of 2008 - 2011, she was vice-president of the Legislation Committee, member of the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and the Political System, the Judiciary Committee, the Interparliamentary Co-operation Committee, the delegation of the Croatian Parliament to the EU - Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee, and the National Council for Monitoring the Implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy; during the convocation of 2011 - 2015, she was president of the Legislation Committee, member of the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and the Political System, the European Affairs Committee, the Judiciary Committee, the Interparliamentary Co-operation Committee, the State Attorney Council from the ranks of Members of Parliament, and substitute member of the Delegation of the Croatian Parliament to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. She also performed the function of observer at the European Parliament and of substitute member of the Assembly for the Election of Judges of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. In her last term of office, from 2015 until her election as judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, she was member of the Committee for the Constitution, Standing Orders and the Political System, the Legislation Committee, the Interparliamentary Co-operation Committee, the delegation of the Croatian Parliament to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the National Council for the Implementation of the Anti-corruption Strategy.

From 2001 to 2003, she performed the function of Minister of Justice, Administration and Local Self-government and participated in the drafting of many legislative proposals.

She has participated and presented papers in a large number of professional conferences and other events.

She holds the Plaque of the Croatian Notaries Chamber for her exceptional contribution to the notarial service.

ARLOVIĆ, MATO (1952), LL D

Judge of the Constitutional Court (21 July 2009 - 12 October 2017)
Judge of the Constitutional Court (13 October 2017 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek in 1979 where his also gained his LL M 1982 and his LL D in 2012. He defended a doctoral thesis on "The right of national minorities in the Republic of Croatia / constitutional regulation and their contradiction with human rights and fundamental freedoms". He passed the bar examination in 1995.

From 1970 to 1975 he worked at the Boris Kidrič Sugar and Fermentation Plant in Županja. From 1980 to 1988 he worked at the Faculty of Law of the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek, first as assistant then as university teacher. He was secretary of the Municipal Assembly until October 1990, after which he returned to the Faculty where he worked until the spring of 1991. He was elected Member of the Croatian Parliament for five terms from 1990 to 2008, during which time he had various duties and performed various offices, the most important being: in the term of 1990-1992 he was president of the Public Administration and Justice Committee, president of the Commission for the Rules of Procedure of the Croatian Parliament and member of the Legislative Committee; in the term of 1992-1995 he was vice-president and president of the Work, Health and Social Policy Committee and member of the Legislation Committee; in the term of 1995-1999 he was president of the Maritime Affairs and Communications Committee, member of the Legislation Committee, member of the National Council for Waters and member of the State Commission for Natural Disaster Damage Assessment; in the term 2000-2003 he was vice-president of the Croatian Parliament, president of the Constitution, Rules of Procedure and Political System Committee, head and member of the permanent delegation of the Croatian Parliament to the Assembly of the WEU, coordinated the work of the Croatian Parliament and the Government of the Republic of Croatia; and in the term of 2004-2007 he was vice-president of the Croatian Parliament, head of the permanent delegation of the Croatian Parliament to the Assembly of the WEU, member of the extended presidency of the Assembly of the WEU, member of the Constitution, Rules of Procedure and Political System Committee and member of the Agriculture Committee.

He was an author, co-author and participant in the process of passing many Croatian regulations. He participated both as a member of the Croatian Parliament and also as an author or co-author in passing the Croatian Constitution and all its revisions and amendments and all the Constitutional Acts and acts that regulate the rights of national minorities and ethnic groups and how these are to be realised in the Republic of Croatia. He participated in the work of many Croatian and international public meetings, round tables, seminars, symposiums and conferences and published more than thirty scholarly and professional papers.

He is a member of the Croatian Red Cross, an honorary member of the Red Cross of the City of Osijek and also a member of the Croatian Red Cross on the national level. He is one of the founders of the Croatian Legal Centre, where he was member of the Supervisory Board.

He was awarded the Order of Work with a Silver Wreath, Order of the Croatian Trefoil for Special Merit for the Republic of Croatia During the War, Order of Danica Hrvatska with the Face of Katarina Zrinska.

BRKIĆ, BRANKO (1958), LL D

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1982 where he also gained an LLM in criminal law in 2005. He gained his LLD in 2015 at the European Faculty of Law in Nova Gorica (EVRO-PF), Republic of Slovenia. He passed the Bar Examination in 1984.

From 1984 to 1991 he was judge at Obrovac Municipal Court, and from 1991 to 1996 at Zadar County Court. From 1992 to 1996 he was judge at the Split Military Court. From 2006 until he was elected judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia he was judge of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia.

He is member of the Croatian Association for Criminal Law Sciences and Practice. From 2010 to 2012 he was member of the National Judicial Council.

He has published many professional and scientific papers dealing with criminal and criminal procedural law as well as international humanitarian law.

He was decorated with the Medal of the Homeland War, the Order of the Croatian Trefoil for merit in the judiciary, and the Medal for participation in Operation "Oluja” (Storm).

JELUŠIĆ, MARIO (1965), LLD

Judge of the Constitutional Court (26 May 2008 - 6 June 2016)
Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1990. At the same faculty he gained his LLM in civil law in 1994, and in 1998 he earned his LLD, defending a thesis titled Relationship Between Legislative and Executive Power in Croatia from 1848 to 1918. He passed the Bar examination in 1994.

From 1991 he was research assistant at the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb, and then assistant professor in the Department of Constitutional Law. He is lecturer in the postgraduate doctoral studies "Public Law and Public Administration" at the same Faculty. He also teaches at the Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka, and at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia.  From 1997 to 2007 he was head of the Croatian section of the interdisciplinary Postgraduate Specialist European Studies run in cooperation between the University of Zagreb and the Université Panthéon Assas (Paris II) and lecturer in postgraduate studies in Comparative Politics at the Political Sciences Faculty in Zagreb.

From 1996 to 1999 he was external member of the Committee for Legislation and the Committee for the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System of the House of Representatives of the Croatian Parliament, member of the working group for drafting the Constitutional Act on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia in 1998, and in 1999 member of the working group for the Draft of the Principles and Basic Institutes of Croatian Electoral Legislation. From 2001 to 2004 he was local expert for European Union projects in Croatia (Support to the Judiciary in Legal Advice and Conducting Proceedings, and Public Administration Reform).

He is the author of scholarly and professional works in constitutional law, the history of Croatian law and state, local and regional self-government and other fields of law. He has contributed papers at several Croatian and international scholarly and professional symposiums. He has also contributed to the Croatian Encyclopaedia and the Legal Lexicon of the Miroslav Krleža Lexicographical Institute, and to the periodical Informator.

He is a full founding member of the Academy of Legal Sciences of Croatia, founding member of the Croatian Association for Constitutional Law, and member of the Croatian Society for Civil Law Sciences and Practice. He is deputy president of the Board of Directors of the Society for Cultural Cooperation with the Alliance française in Zagreb.

He is the recipient of the Croatian state decorations of the Order of the Croatian Wattle and the Memorial Medal of Homeland Gratitude, and also of the French decoration Ordre des palmes académiques.

KUŠAN, LOVORKA (1968)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1991. Passed the Bar Examination in 1994.

From 1991 to 1994 she was legal trainee in the law firm of Zlatko Kušan in Ivanić-Grad. From 1995 to 1996 she worked in the Croatian Composers' Society as a lawyer dealing with copyright protection. In 1998 she was enrolled in the Register of Attorneys of the Croatian Bar Association and worked as an attorney at law until her election as judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia. As of 2000 she has represented clients before the European Court of Human Rights, and has been engaged in strategic litigation in the fields of hate crime, the right to a home, discrimination, the right to education and the rights of persons with disabilities.

From 1997 to 2006 she was co-worker in projects of the Croatian Law Centre related to forced migration, elections, the judiciary and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Council of Europe. From 1996 to 1999 she was a human rights activist with the Croatian Helsinki Committee and from 1998 to 1999 a member of this Committee. From 1997 to 2014 she was co-worker of the European Roma Rights Centre (Budapest), and also collaborated with the Open Society Institute (New York) on a project on forced migrations and with the Centre for Peace Studies (Centar za mirovne studije) in the fields of the rights of asylum seekers and prohibition of discrimination. From 2001 to 2002 she was local consultant of the Council of Europe for the "Report on obstacles facing the Roma minority of Croatia in accessing citizenship, housing, health and social assistance rights", and from 2003 to 2004 on the project "Roma access to employment". From 2009 to June 2016 she was member of the European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-Discrimination Field.

She has held many lectures on the applicaton of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and on the prevention of discrimination and has presented papers at numerous conferences, round tables and expert gatherings on human rights. She has published several expert articles on the case law of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

LEKO, JOSIP (1948)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law in Zagreb in 1975. Passed the State Licence Examination in 1976, and the Bar Examination in 1993.

He gained his first work experience in the company “Slavonija DI”, Slavonski Brod, as a law clerk in the legal service part of the company. From 1975 to 1986, he worked in the Assembly of the Municipality of Novi Zagreb, first as a professional legal associate, and then as the secretary of the Council of Associated Labour and secretary of the Executive Council. From 1986 to 1989, he was social self-management ombudsman, after which he was appointed director of the Working Community and Deputy Director General of the company “Zagrepčanka”. From 1991 to 2000, he was business director of the Social Democratic Party of Croatia. 

He was elected Member of the Croatian Parliament for five consecutive convocations from 2000 to 2015, during which he performed and held various functions, the most significant being the following: during the convocation 2000 - 2003, he was president of the Legislation Committee, member of the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and the Political System, the Judiciary Committee, the European Integration Committee,  and the National Committee for the Suppression of Trafficking in Human Beings; during the convocation of 2003 - 2007, he was president and vice-president of the Legislation Committee, president of the Commission for Conflict of Interest and member of the Judiciary Committee; in the convocation of 2007 - 2011, he was vice-president of the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and the Political System, member of the Judiciary Committee, the State Judiciary Council from the ranks of Members of Parliament, the National Water Council, and the Commission for Conflict of Interest; during the convocation of 2011 - 2015, he performed the duty of Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, vice-president of the Croatian Parliament, president of the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and the Political System, and was member of the State Judiciary Council from the ranks of Members of Parliament.  In his last term of office, from 2015 until being elected Judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, he was member of the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and the Political System, the Legislation Committee, the Judiciary Committee, the State Attorney Council, and the State Judiciary Council from the ranks of Members of Parliament.

MLAKAR, DAVORIN  (1958)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1982. Passed the State Licence Examination in 1985. Completed several training courses in the field of law and diplomacy, a specialised course in Public International Law in Thessaloniki in Greece, and completed the Diplomatic School at the Faculty of Law in Zagreb.

Prior to his appointment as Deputy Secretary and Secretary of the Government of the Republic of Croatia in September 1991, he worked as an independent administrative clerk and adviser in the City of Zagreb Municipality "Centar" and as advisor with the insurance company Croatia Osiguranje d.d. From 1994 to 1998 he was Minister of Administration and Local Government, and from 1998 to 2000 Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to Japan and the Republic of Korea. From 2000 to 2004 he was advisor and executive vice-president of the Agrokor Group, and from 2005 to 2009 manager of the company Eunomia d.o.o. From 2009 to 2011 he was Minister of Administration of the Republic of Croatia. From 2011 until his election as judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, he was Member of Parliament of the Republic of Croatia, where he was president of the Foreign Policy Committee, vice-president of the Committee for the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System, and member of the Committee for Legislation.

He is a founding member of the Institute of Public Administration and the Croatian Diplomatic Club and member of the Human Rights Institute. He was representative of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and negotiator in the process of the reintegration of Eastern Slavonia in the constitutional and legal order of the Republic of Croatia. He has taken part in several international projects, including the Kingdom of Denmark project on the horizontal correlation of the central bodies of state administration and a World Bank project related to salaries and state and public administration. He is also co-author of several legal texts in the field of administration and the judiciary.

He is a recipient of the Croatian state decorations of the Medal of Homeland Gratitude, the Medal of the Homeland War, the Order of the Croatian Wattle, the Order of Ante Starčević, the Memorial Medal "Vukovar", and also of the Japanese decoration, Order of the Rising Sun with Gold and Silver Star.

MLINARIĆ, RAJKO (1958), MSc

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1982. Gained the title of MA in social sciences in 1996 from the Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitating of the University of Zagreb, defending the penological-law topic “Course and Success of the Treatment of Persons Convicted to Short Prison Sentences”. Passed the Bar Examination in 1985, and the notary public examination in 1994.

After completing his studies, he worked at the Municipal Court in Zlatar, and from 1984 at the Municipal Public Prosecution Office in Zlatar, first as public prosecution trainee, then as expert associate, and, finally, as municipal public prosecutor. From 1992 to 1996, he was manager of the District Prison in Zagreb, and from 1996 to 1998 deputy state attorney of the Republic of Croatia. He was enrolled in the Register of Attorneys in 1998, and, until being elected as judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, he practised as an attorney and represented parties in several branches of law, particularly in a large number of criminal, civil and constitutional proceedings. From 2015 until being elected judge of the Constitutional Court, he was judge of the Higher Disciplinary Court of the Croatian Bar Association. He conducted practical exercises and workshops in the area of criminal and criminal-procedural law in the Department of Criminal Law and the Department of Criminal Procedural Law of the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb. He is member of the Croatian Association for Criminal Law Science and Practice.

He is the author of a number of professional and research papers, mainly in the field of criminal law. He has participated in a large number of domestic and foreign congresses and seminars.

He is a Homeland War veteran who defended the sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia from 1992 to 1996.

SELANEC, GORAN (1976), LLD

Judge of the Constitutional Court (13 October 2017 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 2000. He earned his Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Michigan Law School, USA, in 2002, and gained his PhD defending a thesis on "A Betrayed Ideal: The Problem of Enforcement of EU Sex Equality Guarantees in CEE Post-socialist Legal Systems". He passed the State Qualifying Examination in 2012.

From 2001 to 2009 he worked at the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb, first as a junior research assistant in the Department of Constitutional Law, then as senior assistant in the Department of European Public Law. In 2010 he worked as an expert advisor in the EU PHARE project “Harmonisation and Publication of Case Law” at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia. From 2009 to 2012 he acted as a national gender equality expert in the European Network of National Legal Experts in Gender Equality of the European Commission. In December 2010 he started work at the Office of the Ombudsman for Gender Equality as a senior legal advisor, and in January 2012 he was appointed Deputy Ombudsman for Gender Equality, a position he held until his election as judge of the Constitutional Court in October 2017.

Since 2012, he has been an occasional guest lecturer at the Europäische Rechtsakademie (Academy of European Law - ERA). He has also acted as a legal expert in the following EU Progress projects: "EU Charter of Fundamental Rights” (2014) and "Support for the Implementation of the Anti-discrimination Act" (2009) at the Office for National Minorities and Human Rights of the Government of the Republic of Croatia. From 2013 to 2014 he worked as external associate in the Department of Law of the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Zagreb. Between 2009 and 2011 he lectured in the university study programme “Conference Interpreting” at the University of Zagreb.

He is the author of a wide range of expert and research papers in the fields of European law and the protection of human rights. He has taken part and made presentations in numerous expert and scientific national and international conferences, seminars, congresses and other events.

ŠUMANOVIĆ, MIROSLAV (1957)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1981. Passed the Bar Examination in 1984.

From 1984 to 1988 he was judge at Sisak Municipal Court, and from 1988 at Zagreb Municipal Court, where, from 1993 to 1996, he was president of the Civil Department. In 1996 he was elected judge and president of Zagreb County Court. In 2002 he was enrolled in the Register of Attorneys of the Croatian Bar Association and worked as an attorney at law until his election as judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia.

From 1992 to 2002 he was member and president of the Municipal and the City of Zagreb Electoral Commission, respectively, in parliamentary, presidential and local elections. From 2001 to 2002 he coordinated and headed the group for drafting the Act on the Liability of the Republic of Croatia for Damage Caused by Terrorist Acts and Public Demonstrations, the Act on the Liability of the Republic of Croatia for Damage Caused by Members of the Croatian Armed Forces and Police During the Homeland War, the Act on the Liability of the Republic of Croatia for Damage Caused in the Former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) for which the Former SFRY was Responsible.

He has published several professional papers dealing with civil and civil procedural law, and criminal and criminal procedural law in connection with psychiatric law and constitutional law. He is co-author of the book "Novelties in Civil Procedure", 2003, and author of the Commentary on the Protection of Persons with Mental Disorders Act, 2000. He has presented papers and participated in many scientific and professional symposiums, seminars, congresses and other gatherings.

He was decorated with the Order of the Croatian Wattle.

Election of the judges of the Constitutional Court

ELECTION OF THE JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

The Constitutional Court consists of thirteen judges elected by the Croatian Parliament for a term of eight years from among notable jurists, especially judges, public prosecutors, lawyers and university professors of law.

Judges of the Constitutional Court must be Croatian citizens, jurists, with at least 15 years of experience in the legal profession, who have become distinguished by their scientific or professional work or public activities. A person who has obtained a doctoral degree in legal science and fulfils all the conditions mentioned may be elected judge of the Constitutional Court if he/she has at least 12 years of experience in the legal profession.

The procedure for electing a judge of the Constitutional Court is instituted by the Committee of the Croatian Parliament competent for the Constitution (hereinafter: competent committee), which publishes an invitation in the Official Gazette Narodne novine to judicial institutions, law faculties, the chamber of attorneys, legal associations, political parties, and other legal persons and individuals, to propose candidates for the election of one or more judges of the Constitutional Court (hereinafter: invitation). An individual may propose himself as candidate.

The invitation gives the conditions for electing a judge of the Constitutional Court laid down in the Constitution and in the Constitutional Act on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, the deadline for proposing a candidate to the competent committee, and the enclosures that have to be delivered with the proposal.

After the expiry of the deadline, the competent committee investigates whether the candidates comply with the conditions for being elected judge and rejects invalid candidacies.

The competent committee performs a public interview with each of the candidates who comply with the conditions for being elected judge of the Constitutional Court and on the basis of data presented and interview results draws up a short list of candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court. As a rule the short list includes more candidates than the number of judges of the Constitutional Court to be elected.

The competent committee submits to the Croatian Parliament, together with its proposal, a list of all the candidates who comply with the conditions for being elected judge of the Constitutional Court. The proposal of the competent committee must include the reasons showing why the committee gave a particular candidate priority over the other candidates.

Members of the Croatian Parliament vote for each proposed candidate individually.

A candidate proposed for judge of the Constitutional Court shall be considered to have been elected judge of the Constitutional Court if a two-thirds majority of the total number of members of the Croatian Parliament vote for him.

OATH OF THE JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Before entering office, judges of the Constitutional Court take the following oath before the President of the Republic of Croatia:

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Croatia".

ENTERING OFFICE OF THE JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

An elected judge of the Constitutional Court enters office on the day when the term of office of his/her predecessor expires.

A judge of the Constitutional Court who has been elected in place of a judge relieved of office before the expiry of his/her term of office enters office at the time determined by the Croatian Parliament.

TERM OF OFFICE OF THE JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

The term of office of the judge of the Constitutional Court lasts eight years.

The term of office of the judge of the Constitutional Court begins on the day when he enters into office.

Six months before the term of office of a judge of the Constitutional Court expires, the President of the Constitutional Court is obliged to notify the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament thereof. 

IMMUNITY OF THE JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Judges of the Constitutional Court enjoy the same immunity as the members of the Croatian Parliament.

No judge of the Constitutional Court is responsible under criminal law, nor may be detained or punished for an opinion expressed or vote cast in the Constitutional Court.

No judge of the Constitutional Court may be detained, nor shall criminal proceedings be instituted against him/her, without the approval of the Constitutional Court. A judge of the Constitutional Court may be detained without the approval of the Constitutional Court only if he/she has been caught in the act of committing a criminal offence for which a penalty of imprisonment of more than five years is prescribed by law. In such a case the state body that arrested the judge shall instantly notify the President of the Constitutional Court thereof.

The Constitutional Court may decide that the judge against whom criminal proceedings have been instituted may not perform his/her duties at the Constitutional Court during the proceedings.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL PROHIBITIONS DURING THE TERM OF OFFICE OF THE JUDGE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Judges of the Constitutional Court may not perform any other public or professional duty.

A university professor of law (assistant professor, associate professor and full professor) elected as judge of the Constitutional Court may, on a part-time basis and to a lesser extent, continue performing educational and scientific work as a university professor of law. Other scientific and expert activities, membership in institutes and associations of lawyers, as well as in humanitarian, cultural, sports and other associations, are not considered to be public or professional duties.

A judge of the Constitutional Court may not be a member of any political party, nor may he/she in his/her public activities and behaviour express personal support for any political party.

RELIEF OF OFFICE OF A JUDGE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BEFORE THE EXPIRY OF HIS/HER TERM OF OFFICE

A judge of the Constitutional Court may be relieved of office before the expiry of the term for which he/she has been elected:
- at his/her own request,
- if he/she has been sentenced to imprisonment for a criminal offence,
- if he/she has become permanently incapable of performing his/her duty.

Grounds for relieving a judge of the Constitutional Court of office before the expiry of the term of his/her office are determined by the Constitutional Court, which must notify the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament thereof.

If a judge of the Constitutional Court requests to be relieved of office, and if the Croatian Parliament does not decide upon the request within a period of three months, the office of judge of the Constitutional Court will terminate by force of the Constitutional Act when the period of three months from making the request has expired.

The court of justice that sentenced a judge of the Constitutional Court to prison must deliver without delay the final judgment to the Constitutional Court, which will notify the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament immediately.

Proceedings for determining the permanent incapacity of a judge of the Constitutional Court from performing his/her duty are instituted at the proposal of the President of the Constitutional Court to the Constitutional Court. Proceedings for determining the permanent incapacity of the President of the Constitutional Court are instituted at the proposal of three judges of the Constitutional Court to the Constitutional Court, and the Constitutional Court decides on the proposal by majority vote of all its judges.

During criminal proceedings against a judge, or during proceedings for determining the permanent incapacity of a judge to perform his/her duty, the Constitutional Court judge may be suspended from duty. The President of the Constitutional Court proposes the suspension, and the Constitutional Court decides on the proposal by majority vote of all its judges.

In the case of proceedings against the President of the Constitutional Court, the proposal for his/her suspension is made by three judges. The Constitutional Court decides on the proposal for suspension of the President of the Constitutional Court by majority vote of all its judges.

A judge of the Constitutional Court whose term of office has expired, as well as a judge who has been relieved of office before the expiry of his/her term of office at his/her own request, or because of permanent incapacity to perform his/her duty, has the right to retire under the same conditions as the members of the Croatian Parliament.