CHANGES TO PUBLIC HOLIDAYS LAW BREACHES AGREEMENT WITH HOLY SEE

ZAGREB, Oct 25 (Hina) - Parliament's Constitution, Rule Book and Political System Committee will reconsider amendments adopted to the Law on National Holidays on Thursday after the opposition's Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) said they breached Croatia's agreement with the Holy See. The committee will convene a session to assess if the amendments are in compliance with the Constitution and international legislation, deputy parliamentary speaker Mato Arlovic told Hina. If the committee establishes they are not, it can move new amendments or initiate assessing before the Constitutional Court if they are constitutional. Earlier today, parliament adopted amendments stipulating that the Corpus Christi holiday was a non-working day and Epiphany, Jan. 6, previously a non-working day, a working day. According to Vladimir Seks of the HDZ, this breaches the Croatia-Holy See agreement which states that Epiphany is a non-working day. Under the Constitution, international agreements signed and ratified in compliance with the Constitution are part of Croatia's internal juridical system. They are above the law and their provisions cannot be changed or revoked unilaterally, said Seks. Arlovic responded by saying that even if the amendments were contrary to the international agreement, that would not cause major difficulties, as both Corpus Christi and Epiphany would be non- working days. Parliamentary speaker Zlatko Tomcic then suggested that the amendments be reconsidered by the Constitution, Rule Book and Political System Committee at a session attended by the presidents of all parliamentary benches. (hina) ha sb