ZAGREB, Nov 27 (Hina) - The Croatian Constitutional Court on Thursday abolished the Law on Amendments to the Penal Code, which took effect in July this year and was to be applied as of December 1, because it was not adopted with the
necessary majority of votes of parliamentary deputies.
ZAGREB, Nov 27 (Hina) - The Croatian Constitutional Court on
Thursday abolished the Law on Amendments to the Penal Code, which
took effect in July this year and was to be applied as of December 1,
because it was not adopted with the necessary majority of votes of
parliamentary deputies. #L#
At today's session, the court accepted with a majority vote
proposals by the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (HHO)
and Vladimir Seks, head of the Croatian Democratic Union's (HDZ)
club of parliamentary deputies, that the amendments to the Penal
Code be abolished because they received the support of only 56
deputies, which they consider insufficient.
The court decided that amendments to the Penal Code require the
votes of at least 76 out of 151 deputies, as the law in question is an
organic law which, under the Constitution, is adopted with the
majority of votes.
Agata Racan was the only Constitutional Court judge who objected to
the decision, claiming that court president Smiljko Sokol, acting
contrary to the Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court and
the Rule Book, had taken this case away from her two days ago at a
meeting, and that the court adopted the decision "under pressure,
not by politicians, but the professors lobby".
Sokol said that the legal procedure had been respected and that he,
as court president, could not have signed any other decision
because it would have had "disastrous consequences for the legal
order and the legal security of citizens".
Judge Racan had proposed that the law be abolished, but in two to six
months' time, because non-compliance with the Constitution could
not be corrected as the new parliament has not been constituted.
Sokol said that the court could not have knowingly left in force an
unconstitutional law and that citizens and experts would not have
forgiven the court this mistake, as well as that it would have been
criticised in all textbooks of constitutional law.
Commenting on another case, Sokol said the granting of a request to
re-establish the previous state of affairs and pay compensation to
a resident of Zagreb who was evicted from her flat in 1997 under
Article 94 of the Law on Housing Relations, which was
unconstitutional, constituted the correction of a major
injustice.
He commended judge Emilija Rajic, who over the past three years drew
up seven reports, eventually winning unanimous support for her
ruling.
Sokol said that today's session was the last working session he was
chairing because his four-year term as court president expired on
December 7.
Sokol said that he would not run again for the post, although he had
the right to it.
(hina) rml sb