Parliament confirms Mirta Matić as president of the Supreme Court, but not constitutional judges

On Friday, Croatian Parliament confirmed (with 120 votes 'for' and two 'against') Mirta Matić as president of the Supreme Court, which has been without a leader for the past 14 months, since the death of Radovan Dobronić, and thus becomes the first woman in the history of the Republic of Croatia to head this highest judicial institution.

After Jadranka Kosor, Kolinda Grabar Kitarović and Jasna Omejec, the first and only women in the highest leading political and judicial positions - the Government, the state and the Constitutional Court, Croatia also gets its first woman to head the Supreme Court.

Mirta Matić, a judge of the High Commercial Court, and before that of the Commercial Court, will succeed Radovan Dobronić, who died in March last year, in this position. Since then, the Supreme Court has been led by Gordana Jalšovečki as acting president authorized to perform court administration tasks.

As the President of the Supreme Court, Matić will also take on the role of President of the State Electoral Commission.

Before taking office, which will last four years, Matić will have to take an oath before the Croatian Parliament Speaker, Gordan Jandroković, who said that he hopes this will happen as soon as possible.

120 representatives voted for Matić, while two - Nino Raspudić and Marija Selak Raspudić - were against. The Left was late for the vote, and when the SDP members entered, the governing party applauded them.

“I hope that the governing party has learned that it is not good to play with institutions, and now it is up to Matić to react to any lack of respect for the judiciary and show what it means when the judiciary has a leading person,” said Dalibor Paus of the IDS.

Matić elected after three public tenders and 14 months of political tension

Today's vote in Parliament was preceded by three public tenders, and the past 14 months have been marked by conflict between the president’s office and the government office, as well as the left-wing opposition with the governing party.

Parliament appointed Matić at the proposal of the President of the Republic, who is the only authorized proposer of a candidate for the President of the Supreme Court. In the last, third public tender announced on September 5 last year, Matić was accompanied by other candidates Aleksandra Maganić, a professor from the Zagreb Faculty of Law, and lawyer Šime Savić.

They were heard back in December 2025, but the HDZ made her appointment conditional on the election of three constitutional judges.

Namely, a simple majority in Parliament is required for the President of the Supreme Court, while a two-thirds majority is required for the judges of the Constitutional Court, which also requires an agreement with the opposition.

Given that the left-wing opposition did not want to agree to such a package, the governing party on the Judiciary Committee removed the agenda item regarding giving opinions on candidates for the Supreme Court seven times in the last five months.

From several failed procedures to the final election

It was only two weeks ago, after submitting to Parliament a proposal for three candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court, whose extended mandate expired a month ago, and without any agreement with the opposition, that they gave their support, not only to Matić, but also to other contenders for this highest judicial office.

Savić also responded to the first public tender announced last April. The candidates were also Silvija Sunčana Stubičar and Sandra Artuković Kunšt, who also went through the hearing procedure before the Parliamentary Committee on the Judiciary in June (Savić was unable to attend due to urgent obligations).

None of the three candidates received a positive opinion from the Committee or the General Session of the Supreme Court. Given that this opinion is not binding on the president when proposing a candidate, President Zoran Milanović proposed Artuković Kunšt to Parliament, but she did not receive the support of the governing coalition, led by the HDZ.

Despite this, Milanović announced that Artuković Kunšt would be nominated again, but she did not apply for the second tender.

The State Judicial Council issued a second tender in July last year, and only Professor Maganić responded to it, but Milanović did not send her candidacy to either the General Session of the Supreme Court or the Parliamentary Committee. Instead, without their opinion, guided by the fact that it was not binding, he decided not to send the applicant to Parliament.

A debate then opened up as to whether he had violated the legal procedure by doing so, which further deepened the "frictions" with the Prime Minister and HDZ President Andrej Plenković.

The State Court Council then annulled that tender and issued a third one, which resulted in the Supreme Court finally getting its own president.

Controversy continues over the Constitutional Court

“If we are talking about the election of the president of the Supreme Court, there is a high chance that she will be elected today. This election requires a majority of more than half of the votes, or 76 hands,” said journalist Iva Magušić Dumančić in a live broadcast.

The HDZ practically initiated that this item be included on the agenda of today's vote, and from their previous statements it is clear that they will support Zoran Milanović's proposal. The left-wing opposition is also announcing the same, so it is expected that the position of the president of the Supreme Court will finally be filled after more than a year.

The situation surrounding the election of constitutional judges is, however, significantly more complex than the election of the president of the Supreme Court.

“The vote on constitutional judges was supposed to be held on April 30, but then that item was removed from the vote, among other things because there was no political agreement between the HDZ and the left-wing opposition,” said Magušić Dumančić.

According to current information, an agreement between the governing party and the opposition has not yet been reached, and the left wing of the opposition believes that only one of their conditions has been met so far, which is the unblocking of the election of the President of the Supreme Court.

The opposition criticizes the HDZ and the model for electing constitutional judges, claiming that the governing party independently came up with the names of candidates.

On the other hand, the HDZ rejects such accusations and claims that the three candidates were chosen according to the criteria of expertise and independence.

At the moment, everything indicates that the entire procedure for electing constitutional judges will start from the beginning.

Source: HRT