CONSTITUTIONAL COURT TO MEDIATE IN DISPUTE BETWEEN LOWER, UPPER HOUSES

ZAGREB, May 22 (Hina) - A dispute concerning the procedure of adoption of a constitutional law on human rights and freedoms, which has aggravated frequent misunderstandings between the Croatian National Sabor's two houses, will be mediated by the Constitutional Court, a representative of the upper house's Committee on the Constitution and Rule Book said on Monday. The Committee supported a proposal on initiating proceedings before the Constitutional Court because it believes the House of Representatives has "gravely" violated the procedure to the detriment of the House of Counties. The Committee believes the House of Counties has been bypassed by the House of Representatives in the procedure of giving its consent for changes to the constitutional law and its opinion on amendments proposed by the Government. A request for mediation can be submitted to the Constitutional Court by at least one fifth of the upper house deputies (14). Their signatures will be collected during tomorrow's session already, the Committee's chairman Zelimir Puljic said. The Committee does not want the Constitutional Court to cancel the law but only establish that the House of Representatives has 'gravely' violated the procedure. The Committee fears the lower house could do the same in case of changes to the Constitution. "This could be only a rehearsal for constitutional changes which are to follow, and during which one may wish to 'bypass' the House of Counties again," said Ivan Brlekovic, a Committee member from the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ). Representatives of the ruling coalition in the upper house have also supported the initiative on seeking the mediation of the Constitutional Court in resolving the dispute. The Government had sent its bill on human rights and freedoms to the Sabor in line with the procedure for constitutional laws; the House of Representatives adopted it in line with the procedure on laws; and the law was published in the National Gazette as a constitutional law, the Committee claims. The House of Counties at its last session requested the House of Representatives to repeat the procedure on initiating changes to the Constitutional Law on Minorities, because it had not sought its previous approval. The House of Counties therefore refused to include in its agenda a debate on the Government's draft changes to the Constitutional Law. However, the lower house established that the Constitutional Law on Minorities had been both adopted and changed in 1995 in line with the procedure for the adoption of laws and that there was no need for it to be changed now in line with the procedure regulating changes to the Constitution. Considering that HDZ deputies make the majority in the upper house, House of Representatives Vice-President Mato Arlovic said the refusal of the upper house to debate the Government's amendments to the Constitutional Law on Minorities was an attempt to obstruct the work of the House of Representatives, where the ruling six-party coalition has the majority of seats. The House of Representatives has therefore interpreted the act by the House of Counties as a negative assessment of not only the form but of the amendments' content. Since the negative opinion of the House of Counties is not binding, the House of Representatives adopted changes to the Constitutional Law on Minorities after its debate on the amendments. (hina) jn rml