CRO LOWER HOUSE CONCLUDES DISCUSSION ON AMENDMENTS OF STATE COURT COUNCIL ACT

COUNCIL ACT ZAGREB, May 17 (Hina) - Croatian Parliament House of Representatives at Friday's session concluded an exhaustive and frequently interrupted discussion on amendments of the Act on the State Court Council, proposed by Vladimir Primorac. Explaining the amendments, Primorac recalled that the Act in article 9 established that the president and members of the Council could be relieved of duties at their own request, in case they got a prison sentence, if they permanently lost the ability to perform their duties and if they obtained another country's citizenship. As there are no regulations which say that a member of the Council could be relieved of his post for not performing under the Constitution and law, Primorac held that such a regulation should be introduced. Primorac spoke critically about the work of the State Court Council, stressing that each of its sessions was a disgrace, that the Council "ruined the Croatian legal system" which was inefficient and had never been worse in modern history. Primorac's suggestion was not acceptable for a number of reasons, a Croatian Democratic Party (HDZ) representative, Vladimir Seks, said. Passing of such an amendment would mean that people would be held responsible for their expressed opinion and if the members or the president of the Council answered an opinion expressed during voting or decision-making, nothing would be left of the Council's independence, Seks said. He added that Primorac had not based his criticism of the Council's work on facts, and that the Council performed constitutional and legal tasks promptly and in line with the law. Reasons for amendments were not accepted by the government and judiciary and law committees. Primorac's suggestion was supported by representatives of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) and Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS). Primorac concluded by saying that the goal of his suggestion was to improve the situation in law. After Primorac's conclusion the chairwoman Jadranka Kosor ordered a recess due to passionate reactions and corrections from the benches. (hina) lm jn 171625 MET may 96