Judiciary of Croatia

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    The judiciary of Croatia is a branch of the

    Ministry of Justice
    handles the administration of courts and judiciary, including paying salaries and constructing new courthouses. It also administers the prison system.

    Structure

    The judiciary is a three-tiered system of courts, at the highest tier of which is the

    Supreme Court.[4]

    The lower two levels of the judiciary consist of 15 county courts (županijski sudovi) as

    criminal offences (felonies
    ) and
    misdemeanours
    and minor criminal offences and courts of
    first instance) in civil (including family and labour) lawsuits (county courts and municipal courts are knowns as general or ordinary courts),[5] as well as specialized courts: 9 commercial courts (trgovački sudovi) and the High Commercial Court (Visoki trgovački sud); 4 administrative courts (upravni sudovi) and the High Administrative Court (Visoki upravni sud), the High Criminal Court (Visoki kazneni sud) and the High Misdemeanour Court (Visoki prekršajni sud).[4][6]

    Municipal courts are established for the territory of one or more

    counties
    . The High Commercial Court, the High Administrative Court, the High Criminal Court, the High Misdemeanour Court and the Supreme Court are established for the territory of the Republic of Croatia.

    Judges are appointed by the

    National Judicial Council
    (Državno sudbeno vijeće) and hold office until the age of seventy.

    Constitutional Court

    Main article: Constitutional Court of Croatia

    The Constitutional Court (Ustavni sud) rules on matters regarding compliance of legislation with the constitution, repeals unconstitutional legislation, reports any breaches of provisions of the constitution to the government and the parliament, declares the speaker of the parliament acting president upon petition from the government in the event the country's president becomes incapacitated, issues consent for commencement of criminal procedures against or arrest of the president, and hears appeals against decisions of the National Judicial Council.[3] It also resolves jurisdictional disputes between the legislative, executive and judicial branches, supervises the constitutionality of the programmes and activities of political parties and supervises the constitutionality and legality of elections, state referendums, etc.[7]

    The court consists of thirteen judges elected by members of the parliament for an eight-year term (by two thirds majority of all MPs). The president of the Constitutional Court is elected by the court judges for a four-year term.[8]

    Even considered to be

    legislative and the judicial branches.[9]

    National Judicial Council

    The

    university professors of law, nominated and elected by the law schools of all Croatian universities and two MPs (one of whom must be from the opposition parties), nominated and elected by the Parliament, for four-year terms, and serving no more than two terms.[10][11]
    It appoints all judges and court presidents, except for the president of the Supreme Court and Constitutional Court judges. The National Judicial Council decides also on disciplinary proceedings concerning all judges.

    State Attorneys

    The

    Croatian Government and following a prior opinion of the Parliament's Justice Committee.[14][15] A special State Attorney's Office dedicated to combatting corruption and organised crime, USKOK,[16] was set up in late 2001.[17]

    The Attorney General is not a member of the

    civil law system
    .

    County and Municipal State's Attorneys and Deputy state's attorneys (in the Office of the Attorney General, in the county and municipal state's attorney offices, zamjenici državnog odvjetnika) are appointed for a four-year term by the National State's Attorney Council consisting of seven deputy state's attorneys (elected among and by them from the Office of Attorney General, from county and municipal offices), two university professors of law (chosen by the Croatian universities) and two MPs (one of whom must be from the opposition parties); with a prior opinion issued by the Minister of Justice and the Collegiate Body of the State's Attorney Office. The National State's Attorney Council decides also on disciplinary proceedings concerning state's attorney and deputy state's attorneys (except the Attorney General).

    References

    1. ISBN 978-3-465-03489-6
      . Retrieved 29 December 2013.
    2. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Croatia". Croatian Parliament. Article 119. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
    3. ^ a b "Constitution of the Republic of Croatia". Croatian Parliament. Articles 126-132. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
    4. ^ a b "Judicial power". Supreme Court of Croatia. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
    5. ^ Since July 2018 (effective as of 1 January 2019) former misdemeanour courts have become specialized sections within municipal courts (2 misdemeanour courts - in Zagreb and in Split - have been retained as separate courts - the Municipal Misdemeanour Court in Zagreb and the Municipal Misdemeanour Court in Split), former Municipal Court in Zagreb has been divided into three courts: the Municipal Civil Court in Zagreb, the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb and the Municipal Labour Court in Zagreb.
    6. Narodne Novine
       (in Croatian). 6 July 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
    7. ^ "Council of Europe GRECO" (PDF). coe.int. Council of Europe. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
    8. ^ "History of Croatian Constitutional Judicature". Constitutional Court of Croatia. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
    9. ISBN 978-9-532-70066-4
      .
    10. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Croatia". Croatian Parliament. Article 124. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
    11. ^ "O nama" [About us] (in Croatian). National Judicial Council of Croatia. Archived from the original on 1 January 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
    12. ^ "Opći podaci" [General Data] (in Croatian). State Attorney's Office of Croatia. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
    13. ^ "Županijska i općinska državna odvjetništva" [County and Municipal State Attorney's Offices] (in Croatian). State Attorney's Office of Croatia. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
    14. ^ "Constitution of the Republic of Croatia". Croatian Parliament. Article 125. Retrieved 29 December 2013.
    15. ^ "Dražen Jelinić novi glavni državni odvjetnik" [Dražen Jelinić - New Attorney General] (in Croatian). N1 TV. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
    16. ^ Croatian: Ured za suzbijanje korupcije i organiziranog kriminaliteta, English: Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime.
    17. ^ "O USKOK-u" [About USKOK] (in Croatian). USKOK (Office for the Suppression of Corruption and Organized Crime). Retrieved 29 December 2013.
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