Croatia’s left-green opposition party Mozemo! accused Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic on Saturday of undermining judicial independence by linking the appointment of a new Supreme Court president with the election of three Constitutional Court judges.
Lawmaker Ursa Raukar-Gamulin said the government had blocked the two processes for political reasons, warning that the expiry of the three judges’ mandates on Sunday could leave the Constitutional Court short of members and risk paralysis in decision-making.
“We believe it is important to warn the public that the mandates of three Constitutional Court judges expire today and that Croatia has already been without a president of the Supreme Court for more than a year,” Raukar-Gamulin said.
She accused Plenkovic of conditioning one appointment process on the other in an attempt to secure influence over the Constitutional Court.
“That is an attempt at political bargaining,” she said.
Raukar-Gamulin said there was no constitutional basis for merging the two procedures, noting that the appointment of a Supreme Court president requires a simple parliamentary majority, while the election of Constitutional Court judges requires a qualified majority.
“The prime minister must not interfere in the judiciary in such a way,” she said, adding that such pressure from the executive threatened the independence of the courts.
She said Croatia would be left with only 10 Constitutional Court judges instead of the 13 envisaged by the constitution, raising the possibility that some rulings might be delayed or blocked.
“That is a direct blow to the rights of citizens,” she said.
Raukar-Gamulin also said parliament’s justice committee was due to revisit the issue of appointing a Supreme Court president on Tuesday, accusing the ruling HDZ party of removing the item from the agenda six times despite all formal conditions having been met.
She said Mozemo! would reject any political trade-off over control of the Constitutional Court.
“It is neither possible nor acceptable for any political majority to impose itself on the Constitutional Court,” she said. “Its legitimacy rests exclusively on the expertise, independence and integrity of the judges.”
The dispute adds to tensions over the rule of law in Croatia, where opposition parties have increasingly accused the government of concentrating power in key institutions.