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The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske) is an institution that acts as the interpreter and guardian of the
Croatian Constitution The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Ustav Republike Hrvatske) is promulgated by the Croatian Parliament. History While it was part of the socialist Yugoslavia, the Socialist Republic of Croatia had its own Constitution under the ...
and which monitors the conformity of laws with the Constitution as well as protection of human rights and freedoms of citizens that are guaranteed by the Constitution. It is considered to be ''
de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' the highest judicial authority because it can overturn
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decisions on the basis of constitutional breaches. It is not considered as being part of the judicial branch of government, but rather a court ''
sui generis ''Sui generis'' ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind", "in a class by itself", therefore "unique". A number of disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. These include: * Biology, for species that do not fit in ...
'', and it is therefore often colloquially referred to as a "fourth branch of government", alongside the traditional model of tripartite
separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...
into the executive (
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
/ President of the Republic), legislative (
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
) and judicial (
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
) branches.


Powers and responsibilities

According to the Articles 126-132 of the
Croatian Constitution The Constitution of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Ustav Republike Hrvatske) is promulgated by the Croatian Parliament. History While it was part of the socialist Yugoslavia, the Socialist Republic of Croatia had its own Constitution under the ...
, Constitutional Court shall: * decide upon the compliance of laws with the Constitution, * decide upon the compliance of other regulations with the Constitution and laws, * decide on the constitutionality of laws and the constitutionality and legality of other regulations which are no longer valid, provided that less than one year has elapsed from the moment of such cessation until the filing of a request or a proposal to institute proceedings, * decide on constitutional petitions against individual decisions taken by governmental agencies, bodies of local and regional self-government and legal persons vested with public authority where such decisions violate human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the right to local and regional self-government guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, * monitor compliance with the Constitution and laws and shall report to the Croatian Parliament on detected violations thereof, * decide upon jurisdictional disputes between the legislative, executive and judicial branches, * decide, in conformity with the Constitution, on the impeachment of the President of the Republic, * supervise compliance of the platforms and activities of political parties with the Constitution and may, in compliance with the Constitution, ban non-compliant parties, * monitor whether elections and referendums are conducted in compliance with the Constitution and laws and shall resolve electoral disputes falling outside the jurisdiction of the courts, * first notify the Government what it finds that a competent body charged with enacting a regulation needed for the application of the Constitution, law or other regulation has failed to do so, and shall notify the Croatian Parliament when the Government has been charged with enacting such regulation and failed to do so, * repeal a law or annul any other regulation if it finds it to be unconstitutional or illegal, * perform other duties specified by the Constitution.


Recent influence


Right to free gathering

''Act of Supplements and Alterations to the Law on Public Gathering'' stipulated that no public gatherings could be held within 100 meters of buildings in which the Croatian Parliament, President of Republic, the Croatian Government or the Constitutional Court are located or are in session (the Parliament, Government and the Court are all located at St. Mark's Square) On July 6, 2011, Constitutional Court ruled that this law, which restricts a Constitutional liberty - the right to free gathering, was not passed by the majority necessary to override the Constitution on that matter. The Court's decision was that the law shall be put out of effect at a date specified by the Court. The Court also provided Parliament with the necessary number of representatives which must confirm the Act to make it legitimate.


2013 referendum and same-sex unions

On November 14, 2013, Constitutional Court in a 13–0 statement sent to the State Election Commission stated that there is no constitutional obstacle to hold a 2013 referendum on defining marriage as a union between men and a woman, in the same time pointing out that the referendum revealed numerous problems in the ''Referendum law'' and opened a number of legal questions that required answers. Nevertheless, the Court stressed that decision on the referendum was passed by a majority of 104 MPs and that since it was made with more votes than the majority needed to even change the Constitution itself, the referendum should be held. In addition, the Court asked Croatian Parliament to "provide a stable regulatory framework of the referendum process that meets the standards of a democratic society as soon as possible". The Court also decided that "any amendments to the Constitution which would define marriage as being union between a man and a woman should not have any effect on the further development of the legal framework of the institution of same-sex unions in accordance with the constitutional requirement that everyone in Croatia has the right to be respected and right of legal protection of their personal and family life and human dignity". The Court pointed out that it had never received any request or proposal to review the constitutionality of the provisions of the ''Family Law'' that regulated marriage as a union between a man and woman, or provisions of the ''Law on Same-Sex Unions''. The Court therefore considered that the referendum on the definition of marriage is not a referendum on the right to respect for family life, because it is constitutionally guaranteed to all persons, regardless of sex and gender, and is under the direct protection of both, the Constitutional Court itself and the European Court of Human Rights. In conclusion, the Court warned that "incorporation of legal institutes in the constitution shouldn't become a systemic phenomenon" and that exceptional individual cases must be justified by being connected, for example, with deep-rooted social and cultural characteristics of the society.


Abortion

On February 21, 2017, Constitutional Court announced that it held in a 12–1 decision that it won't accept constitutional complaints submitted by the conservative NGO's ''Croatian Movement for Life and Family'' (in 1991) and ''In the Name of the Family'' (in 2010) to review conformity of the 1978 ''Law on Health Measures for the Realization of the Right to Freely Decide on Childbirth'' with the Constitution. While presenting the decision, Chief Justice Miroslav Šeparović stated that abortion was a controversial and a deep moral, philosophical, legal and medical issue about which there was no consensus and which therefore causes serious divisions in many societies, adding that the question on when life begins was not for the Court since it can only answer questions of legislation. According to Court's decision, it recognized constitutionally guaranteed value of unborn being and not its right to life but rather public interest of the state to protect it. The Court considered that abortion as a constitutional or a human right doesn't exist. According to the Court, the right of privacy of women, which includes the right of freedom, dignity and the protection of family and private life, exists, which gives woman autonomy to a certain period (in Croatia 10 weeks after conception) during which woman can freely decide whether she wants to give birth or not, but after that period of time birth becomes public interest which protects the right to life of the unborn. With this decision, the Court obligated the
Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament ( hr, Hrvatski sabor) or the Sabor is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Croatia. Under the terms of the Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the people and is vested with legislative power. The Sabor ...
to enact new law within two years and has warned it to take into account the fact that existing law contains certain institutions that no longer exist in the Croatian constitutional order (since the Law is based on the
1974 Yugoslav Constitution The 1974 Yugoslav Constitution was the fourth and final constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It came into effect on 21 February 1974. With 406 original articles, the 1974 constitution was one of the longest constitutio ...
) and that the adoption of the 1990 Croatian Constitution built a brand new legal and institutional framework of health, social, scientific and educational system. New law should determine the educational and preventive measures "so that abortion should be an exception". In sole
dissenting opinion A dissenting opinion (or dissent) is an opinion in a legal case in certain legal systems written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment. Dissenting opinions are no ...
, Judge Miroslav Šumanović, among other things, stated that the 1978 Law should be formally and substantially aligned with the Constitution, abolished with a deferment effect, that the new one should be enacted, and that it is the duty of the state to protect the right to live of the unborn being. Following Court's decision, the Croatian Parliament is permanently banned from enacting a law which would effectively ban abortion.


Composition

The Constitutional Court consists of thirteen judges elected by the Croatian Parliament with
qualified majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
(101 out of 151) for a term of eight years from among notable jurists, especially judges, public prosecutors, lawyers and university professors of law. The Court elects its own President for a term of four years. Before they take the office, judges must take an oath in front of the President of the Republic.


Current composition

Following table contains names of sitting justices as of 11 October 2017 when the last appointments occurred.


Presidents of the Court


Former justices

*Zdravko Bartovčak (1991-1999) *dr.sc. Velimir Belajec (1994-2001) *dr.sc. Nikola Filipović (1991-1999) *Marijan Hranjski (1999-2007) *Ante Jelavić Mitrović (1991-1999) *Mario Kos (2001-2009) *mr.sc. Vojislav Kučeković (1991-1999) *Jurica Malčić (1994-2002) *mr.sc. Hrvoje Momčinović (1991-1999) *Ivan Mrkonjić (1999-2007) *dr.sc. Željko Potočnjak (2001-2009) *Agata Račan (2001-2009) *Emilija Rajić(1999-2007) *Ivan Marijan Severinac (1991-1999) *mr.sc. Nevenka Šernhorst (2002-2011) *Vice Vukojević (1999-2007) *Milan Vuković (1991-1992/1995-1997/1999-2007) *Mladen Žuvela (1991-1999) *dr. sc. Marko Babić (2007-2016) *Slavica Banić (2008-2016) *akademik Davor Krapac (2007-2016) *Ivan Matija (1999-2007/2007-2016) *dr. sc. Aldo Radolović (2007-2016) *dr. sc. Duška Šarin (2008-2016) *Antun Palarić (2009-2017)


See also

*
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...
*
Constitutionalism Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional ...
*
Constitutional economics Constitutional economics is a research program in economics and constitutionalism that has been described as explaining the choice "of alternative sets of legal-institutional-constitutional rules that constrain the choices and activities of economi ...
*
Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...
*
Rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
*
Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
*
Rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...
* Rule According to Higher Law


References


Sources


History of Croatian Constitutional Judicature

Sanja Barić, "The Transformative Role of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia - From the ex-Yu to the EU", Analitika - Center for Social Research, Sarajevo, 2016


External links

* {{Coord, 45.81671, N, 15.97341, E, region:HR-21_type:landmark_scale:4000, display=title, format=dms
Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
1963 establishments in Croatia Judiciary of Croatia