Mato Arlović (born 4 October 1952) is a Croatian lawyer and former politician who has been Associate Justice of the

Constitutional Court of Croatia The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia () is an institution that acts as the interpreter and guardian of the Croatian Constitution and which monitors the conformity of laws with the Constitution as well as protection of human rights ...

since 21 July 2009, had previously served five consecutive terms as a member of the

Croatian Parliament The Croatian Parliament () or the Sabor is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Croatia. Under the terms of the Constitution of Croatia, Croatian Constitution, the Sabor represents the nation, people and is vested with legislative power. ...

between 1990 and 2007 for the center-left

Social Democratic Party of Croatia The Social Democratic Party of Croatia (, SDP) is a Social democracy, social democratic political party in Croatia. The SDP is Anti-fascism, anti-fascist, Progressivism, progressive, and strongly Pro-Europeanism, pro-European. The SDP was forme ...

Early life and education

Mato Arlović was born on 4 October 1952 in a Croat family in the municipality of

Orašje Orašje ( sr-cyrl, Орашје) is a city and the capital of Posavina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the northern part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the banks of river ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

where he finished elementary and high school. He graduated law from the Faculty of Law of the

University of Osijek The Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek (, ), commonly known as the University of Osijek (UNIOS), is a public university based in Osijek, Croatia. Established in 1975, it is the flagship institution of higher education in Slavonia, and ...

in 1979, gained master's degree in 1982, passed bar exam in 1995, and gained a PhD in 2012 with the thesis "The Right of National Minorities in the Republic of Croatia - Constitutional Law and Their Contradiction with Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms".

Career

In 1970, Arlović joined

League of Communists of Croatia League of Communists of Croatia (, SKH) was the Socialist Republic of Croatia, Croatian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (SKJ). It came into power in 1945. Until 1952, it was known as Communist Party of Croatia (, KPH). The party ...

. In the same year, he got employed at the

Županja Županja (, , ) is a town in eastern Slavonia, Croatia, located 254 km east of Zagreb. It is administratively part of the Vukovar-Syrmia County. It is inhabited by 12,090 people (2011). Županja lies on the Sava river opposite Bosnia and He ...

''Boris Kidrič Sugar Factory'' where he worked until 1975. Following his graduation in 1979, he started working at the Osijek Faculty of Law. In 1988, Arlović become secretary of the Osijek Municipal Assembly where he worked until October 1990 when he returned to teaching at the Osijek Faculty of Law. Arlović was a delegate at the historical 1990

14th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) convened the highest forum for its 14th Extraordinary Congress on 20–23 January 1990 before it adjourned. It later reconvened for one day on 26 May. This was the last convened LCY Congress and was ...

. He was elected to the Croatian Parliament from the list of center-left

for the first time at the 1990 parliamentary election and was re-elected in

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. Arlović left active politics in 2007 after, at the time, newly elected SDP president

Zoran Milanović Zoran Milanović (; born 30 October 1966) is a Croatia, Croatian politician and the incumbent president of Croatia. First elected in 2020, he was re-elected in 2025 with 74% voter support. Prior to assuming the presidency, he was the prime min ...

put him at the 3rd place of the SDP electoral list in the 5th electoral district, which he took as an offense. During his time as an MP, Arlović served as a Parliament's Vice President (2000-2003; 2004–2007) and president of Judiciary and Administration Committee, Labour, Retirement System and Social Partnership Committee, Committee on Maritime Affairs and Transportation and Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System. He was also a member of several supervisory boards, including the ones of Badel 1862 and

Croatian Radiotelevision ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' ( HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is a Croatian public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into three ...

. He was also a vice president of SDP. On 21 July 2009, he was elected Justice of the

, and was reelected for a second 8-year term on 11 October 2017.

Private life

Mate Arlović is married to Branka Arlović with whom he has two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arlovic, Mato 1952 births Living people University of Osijek alumni Croatian judges Social Democratic Party of Croatia politicians Representatives in the modern Croatian Parliament