The Supreme Court has upheld an appeal by Deputy Attorney-General Drazen Jelenic, quashing a decision by the State Attorney Council (DOV) extending Jelenic's suspension for three more months.

Without naming him, the Supreme Court said that the fact that Attorney-General Zlata Hrvoj-Sipek had launched disciplinary proceedings against Jelenic could not serve as reason for extending his suspension.

“Disciplinary proceedings are not by default a valid reason that provides a compelling argument for a decision on suspension. The relevant law says that a deputy attorney-general can be suspended, which also means that they do not have to be suspended. The Supreme Court believes that DOV’s decision does not contain a valid reasoning and can therefore not be considered. If during disciplinary proceedings it is really not possible for the deputy attorney-general to perform his duties, that needs to be clearly substantiated,” the court said, instructing DOV to make a new, properly substantiated decision.

The highest court recalled that DOV, acting in line with a request by Attorney-General Hrvoj Sipek, on 13 April 2021 decided to suspend her deputy Jelenic for a period of three months, and that DOV launched disciplinary proceedings against him on 28 April.

Hrvoj Sipek requested those proceedings due to the suspicion that Jelenic had acted contrary to the professional code of ethics and caused harm to the reputation of the Office of the Attorney-General.

Requesting his suspension, Hrvoj Sipek proposed relieving Jelenic of his duties.

Former Attorney-General Jelenic stepped down on 19 February 2020 after it was discovered that he had concealed his membership in a Masonic lodge. Jelenic said at the time that his membership of the association, which is legal, had not had any influence on the way he had performed his duties.