The 11 applicants are to be interviewed by the committee on Tuesday, 24 March, the parliament is expected to discuss the short-listed candidacies on 2 April and appoint the three new judges on 3 April, the Parliament's Vice-President, Vladimir Seks, said on Friday.
Members of parliament vote individually on each short-listed candidate, and the candidates, supported by a majority of the total number of MPs, are appointed as Constitutional Court judges.
Apart from Agata Racan and Zeljko Potocnjak, whose eight-year term as Constitutional Court judges expires on 11 April and who are rerunning for this post, other candidates include a former long-standing Social Democratic Party (SDP) official, Mato Arlovic, a former justice minister and head of the Croatian Intelligence Service (HIS), lawyer Miroslav Separovic, and Administrative Court judge Mirjana Juricic, who was not appointed at the previous parliamentary procedure for this post in May 2008, after which she contested the appointment of Slavica Banic.
In late 2008, the Administrative Court ruled to annul the decision by the Parliament to appoint Banic a Constitutional Court judge and to uphold the application by Juricic, who demanded the protection of her rights and freedoms under the Constitution.
The appointment of the then head of the Government Office for Legislation, Slavica Banic, as a Constitutional Court judge prompted criticism as soon as the decision was made in May 2008.
Juricic, who was short-listed for the post but received only four out of the 77 required MP votes, complained that Banic did not meet the requirements because she failed to give proof of 15 years' work experience in the legal profession and that by appointing her, the Parliament violated the rights of the other candidates.
On the other hand, Banic said that Juricic's rights had not been violated and that relevant legislation on the Constitutional Court did not explicitly specify what kind of proof should be taken into account as evidence for years of service in the legal profession.
Banic lodged an appeal with the Constitutional Court against the ruling of the Administrative Court, and asked for the postponement of the said ruling until the final verdict of the Constitutional Court.
In the meantime, the Constitutional Court decided to temporarily delay the execution of the Administrative Court ruling and Banic has been suspended from performing her duties in the Constitutional Court until the final decision of that judicial institution.
Parliament Deputy Speaker Seks said today that the constitutional complaint was being considered and that as far as he knew the Constitutional Court would make a ruling on the matter soon.
Seks, who heads the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System, insists that his committee made no mistake when it greenlighted Banic's application as valid.
"Different interpretations have arisen regarding whether a certain period of employment of a candidate (Banic) could be categorised as experience in legal profession. Consequently, the Administrative Court made its ruling, the appeal was lodged and proceedings were launched before the Constitutional Court," Seks said, adding that new applicants were asked to submit unequivocal proof from their current and former employers that they had earned experience in the legal profession.
Applicants for Constitutional Court judges must have a law degree and have worked at least 15 years in the legal profession as well as have risen to prominence in that profession and in their public work.
Applicants with a doctoral degree in law need have 12 years of service in the legal profession.
The nongovernmental organisation GONG said on Thursday that the appointment of Constitutional Court judges should be carried out carefully, transparently and not in haste.