SMILJKO SOKOL ELECTED CONSTITUTIONAL COURT PRESIDENT - EXTENDED

ZAGREB, Dec 7 (Hina) - Judges of the Croatian Constitutional Court on Tuesday elected Smiljko Sokol Constitutional Court President by secret vote. Sokol was elected to the post for a period of four years. Ten out of 11 judges voted for Sokol, whereas Sokol gave his vote to Milan Vukovic, who also ran for the position. Addressing reporters after today's court session, Sokol said the previous composition of the Constitutional Court had demonstrated a high level of professionalism and considerably contributed to the furtherance of the rule of law and democracy in Croatia. Sokol said he would see that the new court composition promote and protect the institution of civil society. "We must demonstrate more courage to that aim", the new Constitutional Court President said. The court has inherited 1,882 unresolved cases, which the old composition failed to solve due to a large number of cases. During a debate on the future operation of the Constitutional Court, starting from the considerably reinforced role of the Constitutional Court toward the new Constitutional Law, the judges agreed to simplify and accelerate the procedure of resolving constitutional claims for the sake of efficiency and in line with the technology and practice of the German and Slovene Constitutional Courts. (hina) mm rml