Parliament adopted the law on 13 December 2002, placing Croatia among the modern European states that protect the fundamental rights of all their citizens, regardless of any human characteristic, said Speaker Josip Leko.
He said the way it protected and promoted minority rights could make Croatia an example to many in the world, as it did not distinguish between the majority and the other peoples making up its society.
Leko said the constitutional law on national minorities' rights had become part of Croatian society and that discussions on how to upgrade those rights and the values society should develop would and must never stop.
Advisory National Minority Council president Aleksandar Tolnauer said this law was the foundation stone of the minority policy whereby national minorities, "after a long stigmatisation", had stepped onto the Croatian political scene as a prerequisite for improving the minority policy.
He said it was necessary to raise awareness that minority rights "are not something additional", but a means to ensure that minorities exercised their rights and were equal in society.
The chair of the parliamentary Committee on Human and National Minority Rights, Furio Radin, said the constitutional law had created the foundations for a systematic minority policy, but added that "everything was being done not to make this law constitutional," as seen in the Constitutional Court's decision to repeal some of its provisions, including the one which guaranteed double voting rights.
Radin said the latest census showed that the minority population in Croatia was down, notably the Serbs as the largest minority, which indicates that this system "needs to be upgraded."
The chair of the Independent Democratic Serb Party's parliamentary group, Milorad Pupovac, said interest in the relevance of minority issues was declining.
He warned about a rising intolerance towards minorities in society as well as in parliament, saying it was important to point to any attempt at undermining minority rights, including criticisms of minority representatives.
Administration Minister Arsen Bauk said the government was aware of the political responsibility for minority issues.
"We hope the next census will not show a decline in the minority population but a rise in Croatia's total population," he said.