26 - 30 March 2009 - President of the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Mr. Jean-Paul Costa, together with professor Nina Vajić, Judge elected in respect of the Republic of Croatia and Mr. Roderic Liddell, Director of Common Services was, upon the common invitation of Professor Jasna Omejec, President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia and Mr. Branko Hrvatin, President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia, in the working and official visit to our country. The visit included several official meetings - with Mr. Sjepan Mesić, President of the Republic; Ms Jadranka Kosor, Vice-president of the Croatian Government; Mr. Mladen Bajić, Head Public Prosecutor; Mr. Leo Andreis, President of the Croatian Bar Association, judges of the Dubrovnik County Court and judges of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia. Within the visit, President Costa held a working meeting with the judges of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, and tackled issues related to the application of the Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the Croatian legal order. The discussions were held also on the amendments of the Croatian Constitution and the Constitutional Act on the Constitutional Court aimed at diminishing the differences in the jurisdiction of the two Courts and on some particular recent decisions of the Constitutional Court which, according to the European Court view, show the progress in the protection of human rights in Croatia. The both parties agreed that they views and interpretation related to the human right protection issues and the application of the Convention have been highly harmonised.

On Monday, 30 March 2009, President Costa held a lecture at the Zagreb Law Faculty on "Some reflections about the consistency of the Strasbourg case-law and the concept of positive obligations in the Strasbourg case law".

  President Costa's Speech given at the Zagreb Faculty of Law on 30 May 2009.pdf