Ante Šprlje (born 20 August 1979) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n lawyer who served as the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

in the cabinets of Prime Ministers

Tihomir Orešković Tihomir "Tim" Orešković (; born 1 January 1966) is a Croatian-Canadian businessman who was Prime Minister of Croatia from January to October 2016, before a no-confidence vote filed by one of the two parties in the ruling coalition brought hi ...

and

Andrej Plenković Andrej Plenković ( ; born 8 April 1970) is a Croatian politician serving as the Prime Minister of Croatia, prime minister of Croatia since October 2016. He was previously one of eleven List of members of the European Parliament for Croatia, 201 ...

from 22 January 2016 until being dismissed by Plenković on 27 April 2017.

Early life and education

Ante Šprlje was born on 28 August 1979 in the village of Matijevići near

Metković Metković () is a town in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia, located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the river Neretva and on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Climate Since records began in 1997, the highest temper ...

to Mate and Maša Šprlje. He finished elementary and high school in Metković. He finished 7th grade in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

due to the ongoing

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

. After finishing high school he enrolled in the Faculty of Law of the

University of Split The University of Split (, ) is a university located in Split, Croatia. It was founded in 1974. and is organized in 13 faculties and 124 faculty programmes. As of 2009, a total of approximately 40,000 students have graduated, and a total of 337 ...

from which he graduated in 2002. He passed state exam in 2005, and bar exam in 2007.

Career

Šprlje got his first job in October 2003 when he was appointed research assistant in the government of the

Dubrovnik-Neretva County The Dubrovnik-Neretva County (; , ) is the southernmost county of Croatia. The county seat is Dubrovnik and other large towns are Korčula, Metković, Opuzen and Ploče. The Municipality of Neum, which belongs to neighbouring Bosnia and Herz ...

. He worked on this position until February 2005. From April 2005 until December 2007 he worked as trainee in State Attorney's Office in

. In December 2007 he began working as legal adviser in the Metković Municipal court. He worked there until August 2012 when he was appointed judge. From January 2015 until April 2015, he served as a Vice President of the same court. In January 2016 he became

in the

Bridge of Independent Lists The Bridge (), previously known as Bridge of Independent Lists () until November 2020, is a political party in Croatia founded in 2012. The party is led by Božo Petrov, its founder and the former mayor of Metković, deputy prime minister and s ...

quota for the

Cabinet of Tihomir Orešković The Thirteenth Government of the Republic of Croatia () was the Croatian Government cabinet led by Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković. It was the government cabinet of Croatia between 22 January until 19 October 2016. It was formed following the ...

. He served, in most cases as a volunteer, in the following: leading the campaign for the " velopment and protection of the natural heritage of the valley of the Neretva river" (2006), as consultant for the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (2007-2009), as a volunteer in the Fire Department of

Kula Norinska Kula Norinska is a village and a municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in southeastern Croatia. Geography The municipality is situated on the northern border of the Dubrovnik-Neretva County. It borders the City of Ploče, the City of Opu ...

municipality (2012-2016), as editor of the

municipality official website (2012-2015), as a school board member in the Kula Norinska elementary school system, as vice-president (2008-2009) and, later, as president (2009) of the Neretva Boat Marathon Association, as Vice President/Secretary of the Neretva Delta forum (2008-2013), as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Association of Neretva Boatmen (2012-2014), President of the association "Nora", and four years rower on the marathon (2007-2015), moderator of criminal and misdemeanor law sub-forum (2007-2012), and as editor of the regulations of Legalis.hr, an online legal portal (2007-2012), as president of the election commission of Kula Norinska municipality (2007-2010), as a member of the election commission of Metković, and as presiding judge of the Civil Service Tribunal in Dubrovnik-Neretva County. Šprlje served as the

in the

since January 22, 2016. He retained his position in the

Cabinet of Andrej Plenković Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

, inaugurated in October 2016.

Personal life

Šprlje has a daughter with his wife Iva. The couple are expecting a second child. He speaks Croatian, English and German.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprlje, Ante 1979 births Croatian lawyers Living people People from Metković University of Split alumni Justice ministers of Croatia