President Milanović: May the New Constitutional Judges be Honourable, Exemplary, and Upright
“In my opinion, the Constitutional Court is very poorly structured with overly extensive powers that are being abused politically. I hope that this new composition will forget what happened before, that it will act in accordance with the Constitution, that it will interpret its powers more narrowly,” said the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović in Varaždin today, commenting on the election of new constitutional judges that should take place in the Croatian Parliament on Saturday.
President Milanović stated that Croatia needs a Constitutional Court for presidential elections because, without it and the right to appeal, the electoral process cannot be fully carried out. Commenting on the political agreement between the Government and the opposition regarding the appointment of judges, President Milanović emphasized that this represents a “political division of the court, which is a political rather than a legal body.” He added, “This is essentially a matter of political agreement. I personally took part in the constitutional amendments that introduced this supermajority requirement of two-thirds for the election of constitutional judges.”
President Milanović also emphasized that extending the mandate of Constitutional Court judges whose terms have expired is out of the question. “Neither I nor they have that authority. Only the Parliament can do that – not the President, and certainly not judges who are not elected by the citizens,” the President stated. He added that he wished the nominees “all the best, that they may be honourable, exemplary, and upright constitutional judges.”
When asked whether he believes this convocation will perform better and if the new constitutional judges will work differently, President Milanović said: “These are mostly new constitutional judges, and I want it to be that way. I know some of them, and from some, I expect absolutely nothing. It is disheartening for Croatia that, according to clear political criteria, the HDZ has a designated room in its headquarters for the President of the Constitutional Court. That will be Bošnjaković. It is somewhat sad and, in any case, damaging to the reputation of the court and the execution of its constitutional role for it to act as some kind of super-body,” the President stated.
“In the end, it all came down to division – this is a division of territory. That is not good, but there is no other way,” said President Milanović, announcing that the oath of office for the new constitutional judges will be held immediately after they are elected.
“I will not go to Paris for the reopening of Notre Dame but will dedicate that day to this instead. Immediately tomorrow, after the vote,” announced President Milanović, who had been scheduled to attend the ceremonial reopening of the renovated Notre Dame in Paris on Saturday, at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.