The term of office of Supreme Court President Djuro Sessa has expired, and he will be replaced by Deputy President Marin Mrcela until the new President is elected, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday, adding there was no constitutional crisis and that judges will continue to exercise the judicial power as determined by the Constitution and law.

“Until the new president is elected, the affairs of the court administration will be performed by the deputy president, whose powers are determined by the law adopted by the Croatian parliament. There is democratic legitimacy because the law was adopted by democratically elected representatives,” the press release from the Supreme Court said.

The length of court proceedings is the biggest problem, they said, so further action will be taken in terms of court administration to continue reducing the number of cases and resolving them more quickly.

“There is no constitutional crisis. Judges did not ‘produce’ this situation nor do they want to be part of daily political confrontations,” the Supreme Court said.

Sessa was Supreme Court President since July 20, 2017. He also applied for a new term in office in the first public call issued by the State Judicial Council this year, but President Zoran Milanovic did not recommend him or anyone else who had applied to the parliament.

The State Judicial Council issued the second public call after the Supreme Court had concluded that the president could only nominate a candidate who applied to the public call. Sessa did not apply, saying that President Milanovic, who recommended Zlata Djurdjevic for Supreme Court President, clearly did not want to recommend him to the parliament for that position.

On July 7, the State Judicial Council issued the third public call for the appointment of a new Supreme Court President, and Milanovic said he would nominate his candidate, after Zlata Djurdjevic did not receive the support of a majority of MPs.