ZAGREB, Feb 3 (Hina) - The Croatian Constitutional Court on Thursday accepted constitutional complaints filed by former Supreme Court judges and annulled the decision of the State Judicial Council (DSV) on appointing Supreme Court
judges of November 20, 1997 in the section referring to the judges who filed complaints. The case will be returned to the DSV for reconsideration and a vote on the judges who filed the complaints and their appointment as Supreme Court judges on the basis of a list of candidates of the Justice Minister and in line with conditions published in a Justice Ministry's vacancy ad. The Constitutional Court decided that it is not visible from vacancy files which expert or other reasons the DSV was governed by when it decided not to re-appoint the judges who filed the complaints and who had performed their duties for a number of years. In the case of candidates who are already performin
ZAGREB, Feb 3 (Hina) - The Croatian Constitutional Court on
Thursday accepted constitutional complaints filed by former
Supreme Court judges and annulled the decision of the State
Judicial Council (DSV) on appointing Supreme Court judges of
November 20, 1997 in the section referring to the judges who filed
complaints.
The case will be returned to the DSV for reconsideration and a vote
on the judges who filed the complaints and their appointment as
Supreme Court judges on the basis of a list of candidates of the
Justice Minister and in line with conditions published in a Justice
Ministry's vacancy ad.
The Constitutional Court decided that it is not visible from
vacancy files which expert or other reasons the DSV was governed by
when it decided not to re-appoint the judges who filed the
complaints and who had performed their duties for a number of
years.
In the case of candidates who are already performing duties as
judges, a decision on their non-appointment means the cessation of
their service as judges by force of law. It is therefore
unacceptable and contrary to constitutional rights of man to cancel
a judge's work contract - especially if the judge has been
performing his duties for a long period of time - and without
informing him of the reasons, thus preventing him to appeal.
The Constitutional Court today also cancelled some provisions of
the Law on Associations, saying that they considerably limited the
constitutional freedom of association and that this should prompt
legislative authorities to regulate the issue in a more appropriate
manner. Umbrella-associations and their branch offices should be
registered only if they wish so and they should be granted the
status of legal entities, the decision reads.
The Constitutional Court also believes any person has the right to
association regardless of whether he/she is a Croatian citizen or
not, ruling that limiting the principle of reciprocity is not
justified in principle.
The Court also annulled most provisions of Article 25 of the Law on
Public Information regarding court proceedings on compensation in
urgent procedure, relative to time deadlines within which a court
is obliged to act. The legislator was given the possibility to
regulate this issue in some other way.
(hina) rml