The President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanovic, reacted on Facebook to the decision of the President of the Constitutional Court and its judges to extend the mandate of the current composition of the Constitutional Court if a new composition is not elected.

“The mandate of constitutional judges is laid down in the Constitution and cannot be changed without amending the Constitution”

“This was not a rumour, as I had hoped, but an unprecedented attack on the constitutional order of the Republic of Croatia. At the suggestion of the President of the Constitutional Court, Miroslav Separovic, the outgoing composition of the Constitutional Court extended its own mandate.

Not only is there no basis for this in the constitution, but the constitution expressly stipulates when the mandates of constitutional court judges end.

No interpretation can give the judges of the Constitutional Court the right to arbitrarily extend their own mandate contrary to the express constitutional norm. The extent of the violation caused by some judges of the Constitutional Court is best illustrated by the fact that during the last constitutional amendments, a proposal was considered to allow the judges of the Constitutional Court to remain in office until new judges are elected.

This proposal was rejected and the current constitutional provision was adopted – that the mandate can be extended until new judges are elected, but for no longer than six months. This is the only true intention of the Constitution’s creators, as expressed in the text of the Constitution. Any other interpretation is an abuse and an amendment of the Constitution. The mandate of constitutional judges is laid down in the Constitution and cannot be changed without amending the Constitution.

“They ‘protect’ the Constitution by deliberately violating it”

Through this behaviour, some judges of the Constitutional Court have put themselves in the position of the creators of the Constitution by ruling on their own mandates. They are changing the constitution based on their own judgement. They are ‘protecting’ the constitution by deliberately violating it.

To make matters worse, the decision was made in a secret session, and not only was the public not informed, but neither was the Croatian Parliament, which should have been informed according to the law. This kind of behaviour is unprecedented in Croatian history and represents the most significant attack to date on the constitutional order of the Republic of Croatia – on democracy based on the rule of law.

These so-called ‘guardians’ of the Constitution have become a constant threat to democratic institutions and processes through their actions, as they do not monitor them, but politically direct them. We now have constitutional judges in whom Croatian citizens have no reason to trust, as they have shown that they are willing to violate the constitution in order to protect their own mandates.

“Only a constitutional court that is trusted by citizens can fulfil its constitutionally prescribed role”

The least these constitutional usurpers – four of whom are still members of the Constitutional Court – can do is resign, because no one can trust them or their decisions anymore. This would give the Constitutional Court the opportunity to restore public and institutional confidence in its work.

However, we also have new constitutional judges, eight of whom were either not involved in this attack on the constitutional order or did not vote in favour of it. They have sworn on their honour to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Croatia.

I expect them to honour this oath and protect the constitutional order from all those who think they can do whatever they want. They have an enormous responsibility to restore the reputation of the Constitutional Court after this dangerous subversion of the Constitution by conscientiously fulfilling their duties as judges and preserving their personal honour. Only a constitutional court that is trusted by the citizens can fulfil its constitutionally prescribed role,” wrote Zoran Milanovic.