The ten newly-elected judges of the Croatian Constitutional Court were sworn in before President Zoran Milanovic at his office On Saturday.
Croatia had been without a Constitutional Court as Parliament failed on Friday to elect ten of the 13 judges whose terms, including an extended six-month mandate, had expired at midnight last night. However, Parliament exceptionally resumed its session on Saturday morning, where lawmakers elected all ten judges by a two-thirds majority.
In individual and public voting, Parliament elected the following judges for an eight-year term: Ante Galic (115 votes in favour, 10 against), Andrej Abramovic (125 in favour), Miroslav Sumanović (119 in favour, four abstentions), Lovorka Kusan (125 in favour), Rajko Mlinaric (120 in favour, four abstentions), Biljana Kostadinov (123 in favour), Drazen Bosnjakovic (121 in favour, one abstention, three against), Sanja Bezbradica Jelavic (125 in favour), Frane Stanicic (125 in favour), and Masa Marochini Zrinski (122 in favour, two abstentions, one against).
Following the national anthem, each judge individually took the oath before President Milanovic, pledging: “I solemnly swear by my honour that in performing the duties of a Constitutional Court judge of the Republic of Croatia, I will adhere to the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Croatia and conscientiously perform my duties.”
Five judges nominated by the ruling majority, five by the opposition
After negotiations between the ruling majority and the opposition, nine of the ten candidates for Constitutional Court judges received unanimous support in Parliament’s Committee on the Constitution on Wednesday. The only exception was Ante Galic, opposed by Sandra Benčić from the We Can! party.
The ruling majority proposed the following judges: Drazen Bosnjakovic (former Minister of Justice), Ante Galic (Judge of the High Administrative Court), Rajko Mlinaric (Constitutional Court Judge), Frane Stanicic (Professor at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Law), and Miroslav Sumanovic (Constitutional Court Judge).
The opposition proposed: Andrej Abramovic (Constitutional Court Judge), Biljana Kostadinov (Professor at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Law), Lovorka Kusan (Constitutional Court Judge), Masa Marochini Zrinski (Professor at the University of Rijeka Faculty of Law), and Sanja Bezbradica Jelavic (Attorney-at-Law).
Although the deadline for the election of Constitutional Court judges had expired on Friday, the judges were not elected that day because the Social Democratic Party opposed voting on both its motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister and on the selection of Constitutional Court judges on the same day.
Constitutional Court President Miroslav Separovic recently stated that failing to elect judges for this key constitutional body would threaten constitutional democracy. Without the judges, the 29 December presidential election could not be conducted in a constitutional and lawful manner. The three remaining Constitutional Court judges, Separovic, Goran Selanec, and Mato Arlovic, would lack the quorum necessary to make any decisions.
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