Constitutional Court dismisses Zagreb's lawsuit over government's welcome of handball players

The Constitutional Court dismissed the constitutional complaint of the City of Zagreb against the decision of the Government of the Republic of Croatia to take over the organization of the welcome of the Croatian handball team at Ban Jelačić Square in early February this year, stating that there were no prerequisites for deciding on the merits of the matter.

In early February, the City of Zagreb refused to grant permission to welcome the bronze medal-winning handball players from the European Championship at Ban Jelačić Square due to the announced performance of singer Marko Perković Thompson, after which the organization was taken over by the Government. Zagreb Mayor Tomislav Tomašević argued that it should not have done so without the City's permission.

On behalf of the City, Tomašević challenged the Government's actions before the Constitutional Court, stating that this was an act in a material sense that had legal effects on the City and that failure to initiate proceedings, in terms of the Constitutional Act on the Constitutional Court, could result in serious and irreparable consequences.

However, the Constitutional Court concluded that the disputed action does not constitute an individual act, which is a key prerequisite for filing a constitutional complaint, which is why there are no prerequisites for the Constitutional Court to decide.

In the reasoning, they state that proceedings based on a constitutional complaint filed on the basis of Article 63 of the Constitutional Act may be initiated even before exhausting the permitted legal remedies only when the disputed individual act violates constitutional rights, and it is completely clear that failure to initiate proceedings could result in serious and irreparable consequences for the applicant of the constitutional complaint.

Bearing in mind the aforementioned provisions of the Constitutional Act, as well as the fact that the applicant is challenging the actions of the Government of the Republic of Croatia regarding the reception of the Croatian handball team held on 2 February 2026, the Constitutional Court finds that there are no prerequisites for the Constitutional Court to decide on the applicant's constitutional complaint within the meaning of Article 63 of the Constitutional Act, the ruling states.

The Zagreb City Assembly gave Mayor Tomašević the consent to file a constitutional complaint against the Croatian Government for welcoming the handball players on February 24. 24 representatives of the governing majority from the Možemo Party and the Social Democratic Party voted "in favor", while 16 opposition representatives voted against.

In their explanation, they stated that they were requesting protection of the constitutional right of the City of Zagreb to local self-government, claiming that the Government's actions had effectively encroached on the self-government scope of the local self-government unit.

Source: HRT