The parliamentary Judiciary Committee on Wednesday gave a positive opinion on judges Radovan Dobronic and Marin Mrcela as candidates for Supreme Court president while Dobronic, whom the President already announced as his recommendation to the Sabor, received unanimous support from the committee.

The committee that interviewed candidates at the start of September unanimously supported Judge Dobronic with 11 votes while Mrčela received seven votes in favour, one against (Nikola Grmoja) and three abstentions.

The Judiciary Committee will forward its opinion to President Zoran Milanovic, who then recommends his candidate to the Sabor. The President has previously said that his candidate will be Zagreb Commercial Court Judge Dobronic, known in public as the judge who presided in the case against banks over Swiss francs.

This means the end of the crisis in appointing the highest position in the judiciary.

The selection of a new president for the Supreme Court has gone through three public calls, with five candidates applying in the last one – Judge Dobronic, Supreme Court acting president Marin Mrcela, Judge Lana Peto-Kujundzic, and attorneys Sime Savic and Barbara Gundic.

The president of the Supreme Court is appointed and relieved by the Sabor following a previous opinions by the court’s general assembly and the parliamentary Judiciary Committee, at the recommendation of the President. The court president is appointed for a term of four years and can be reappointed for only one more four-year term.

Judge Mrcela was given 29 votes from judges on the Supreme Court general assembly in early September, while Judge Dobronic was given four votes.