REFORM OF THE JUDICIARY IN CROATIA AND ITS LIMITATIONS
REFORM OF THE JUDICIARY IN CROATIA AND ITS LIMITATIONS

Author(s): Alan Uzelac
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law, Governance
Published by: CEDET Centar za demokratsku tranziciju
Keywords: Reform of the judicial system; judicial administration and self-administration; efficiency of justice; judicial independence
Summary/Abstract: There is a little doubt about a fact that the system of justice in the Republic of Croatia currently experiences a deep crisis. Among various reasons for the present difficulties, one should particularly note the devastating effects of the last decade of the XX century, the decade of war, instability and authoritarian government in Croatia. However, although the reform of the system of justice currently enjoys top political priorities, its implementation meets difficulties from the very outset. The beginning of the comprehensive reform was marked by the decision of the Constitutional Court on March 2000, when the Court struck several provisions of the laws that regulated the role and status of judges, criticizing as unconstitutional the practice of the State Judicial Council in the appointment of judges. Among other annulled provisions, the Court also ruled that the SJC does not have constitutional powers to appoint the court presidents. At the end of 2000, the constitutional amendments and changes to the Courts Act and the Act on State Judicial Council introduced a new system of appointment and removal of judges and state attorneys. However, the new system encountered a strong opposition among those who were personally affected by the reform. This paper emphasizes the paradoxical turn in the roles played by the key actors: those judicial circles that could be attributed with a major responsibility for the poor state of judicial institutions have now been converted into ’’victims of judicial independence” that invoke intervention by international human rights organizations (sometimes not without any success). The lack of determination for fundamental reforms mixed with systemic difficulties inherent to any judicial reform, as well as with post-socialist misunderstanding of the principles of separation of powers and independence of judiciary may lead to poor chances for the success of the reformist endeavors.

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