Constitutional Court calls on lawmakers to elect new judges amid political deadlock

Constitutional Court President Frane Staničić has urged lawmakers to fulfill their duty and elect three new Constitutional Court judges. 

The political deadlock between the ruling majority and the opposition began months ago, after the Prime Minister suggested linking the judges’ election to the appointment of a new President of the Supreme Court—a position that has been vacant since last March.

SDP lawmaker Arsen Bauk said the Constitutional Court “had both the authority and the duty to respond to this ongoing crisis and to constitutionally denounce the HDZ for the chaos it has created.”

He added that he welcomed the Court’s firm stance. “Our next step,” Bauk said, “will be to collect signatures to convene a session of the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System, where candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court will be discussed.”

Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković emphasized that the stalemate “is not about securing a political majority in the Constitutional Court.”

Jandroković explained that the selection of judges in Croatia has traditionally followed this process and has generally been accepted by all sides. “However, this time the SDP and Možemo! refused to participate, which is how the crisis began. It was not the Prime Minister who initiated the linkage between the election of Constitutional Court judges and the President of the Supreme Court; rather, it arose from political pressure by the opposition,” he said.