Croatia Faces Temporary Lack of Constitutional Court Judges

The news in Croatian

1. mandat (m.)
   vrijeme trajanja neke funkcije ili ovlasti ↩︎
2. isteći
   doći do kraja roka trajanja ili važenja ↩︎
3. zamjenski
   koji zamjenjuje ili dolazi umjesto nekoga ili nečega ↩︎
4. utjecati
   imati učinak ili djelovati na nekoga ili nešto ↩︎
5. ustavan
   koji se odnosi na ustav ↩︎
6. predstojeći
   koji dolazi u bliskoj budućnosti ↩︎

Translation

Text Comprehension

Question: How many judges have their mandates expired?

Question: Did the Croatian Parliament reach an agreement on all the candidates?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
mandat (m.)	mandate
isteći	expire
zamjenski	replacement
ustavan	constitutional
utjecati	influence
predstojeći	forthcoming

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The necessity to fill the positions is pressing, particularly with upcoming presidential elections, where the functioning of the Constitutional Court is crucial. Croatian Parliament’s Speaker, Gordan Jandroković, expressed confidence and urgency in convening a session on Saturday morning to resolve the impasse, emphasizing the importance of maintaining constitutional order.

The SDP has been at the forefront of pushing for separate votes on the selection of judges and the confidence vote against Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. They argue that the entanglement of both issues was counterproductive and criticized it as a political strategy. “We are ready to vote once the process is separated,” stated Siniša Hajdaš Dončić of the SDP, underscoring their commitment to constitutional stability.

Despite HDZ’s assertion that there should be no barrier to proceeding with the votes together, they have agreed to delay the process to avoid further turmoil. There is notable tension, with each party blaming the other for delaying tactics. HDZ spokesperson, Krunoslav Katičić, placed responsibility for the delay solely on the SDP, while conceding to avoid potential illegitimacy in constitutional proceedings.

The parties have reached an agreement on nine out of ten proposed candidates after extensive negotiations, but opposition lingered against one nominee, Ante Galić. His candidacy faced resistance primarily due to alleged previous connections with ongoing investigations, which a faction within the opposition party Možemo! objected to.

Prior to the eleventh-hour decision to delay the vote, concerns of a constitutional crisis, specifically an inability to hold presidential elections in a lawful manner, were prominently voiced. Miroslav Šeparović, President of the Constitutional Court, previously warned of a risk to democratic stability should the legal framework for governance remain incomplete.

The outcome of Saturday’s session is eagerly awaited as it remains crucial for Croatia to reaffirm its commitment to constitutional integrity and ensure the full reconstitution of the court ahead of pivotal political milestones.

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