JUDGES: RAMUSCAK'S REPLACEMENT BREACHES SERIES OF INT. DOCUMENTS

ZAGREB, March 29 (Hina) - The Croatian Judges Association (UHS) on Thursday assessed a parliamentary decision to terminate Marijan Ramuscak's mandate as president of the Supreme Court as breaching a series of international documents and representing a departure from the generally accepted standard of judicial authority independence. Parliament's lower house on Wednesday adopted with the necessary two-third majority of vote amendments to the Constitution which, among else, abolish the upper house and terminate mandates for the president of the Supreme Court, and the president and members of the State Judicial Council. In today's statement, the UHS says the replacement of Ramuscak, the leading man of the judicial authority, represents a trampling of the fundamental international community principle that states must not change the Constitution and legislation by decreasing the level achieved as to judicial authority independence. Croatia has been brought into a situation defined as a state without a Constitution, the statement says. The UHS holds the Croatian Constitution "has been abused as a means of replacing officials of the judicial authority" instead of "warranting the independence of the judiciary and protecting officials of the judicial authority from replacement." "By using the law and the Constitution as a means, by practising revolutionary law instead of the rule-of-law, the Croatian parliament has exposed Croatia to the danger of being condemned by the European Court of Human Rights," the statement says, adding this might undermine Croatia's process of integration into European structures. Ramuscak was appointed Supreme Court president as a trusted representative of the formerly ruling Croatian Democratic Union party. (hina) ha sb