The State Judicial Council will invite applications for the appointment of a president of the future High Criminal Court before it begins work, Justice and Administration Minister Ivan Malenica said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Malenica recalled that the State Judicial Council had already appointed 11 of the total of 15 judges of the new court.

The High Criminal Court will be a specialised court ruling on appeals against judgments handed down by county courts and on applications for the protection of legality and applications for the review of the validity of final judgements, the minister said, adding that it will also work on standardising court practice and will ease the burden on the Supreme Court.

Commenting on criticisms by some judges that the new court was unnecessary, Malenica said that this specialised court was necessary, recalling that the justice system already has the High Misdemeanour Court, High Commercial Court and High Administrative Court.

Asked whether the new court was being established “to compensate” Zagreb County Court President Ivan Turudic because he had not been appointed to the Supreme Court, Malenica replied in the negative, adding that Judge Turudic would perform court administration duties before the new court started operating.

The Constitutional Court on Tuesday dismissed objections of the unconstitutionality of the High Criminal Court, ordering that the new court start operating on 1 January 2021.