II GENERAL POLITICAL STRUCTURE

A. Brief historical overview and international recognition

20. Following the first multiparty elections held on April 22, and May 6, 1990, like other eastern European countries, Croatia began the process of transformation from the communist system to a parliamentary democracy and market economy. Parallel to these processes, and simultaneously with certain other republics of the former SFRY, Croatia initiated a political struggle for equality within the federation. According to the then valid Constitution of SFRY (adopted in 1974) the Croatian republic had all the prerogatives of a state, including the right of self-determination and secession.

21. After the introduction of the new, democratically elected government, the Croatian Sabor (Parliament) adopted Croatia's first civil Constitution (as was its prerogative as one of the republics within the SFRY) on December 22, 1990 (Official Gazette 56/90).

22. As the presidents of the former Yugoslav republics had failed to negotiate an agreement on future federate or confederate relations, during the talks held in Ohrid on April 19,1991, it was agreed that a referendum would be called to decide upon whether the SFRY would be preserved as a federation or transformed into a confederation of sovereign states. The referendum held in Croatia in May 1991, revealed that 94% of the people cast their votes in favour of an independent and sovereign Croatia. Consequently, on June 25, 1991, the Sabor of the Republic of Croatia passed a Constitutional Act on Independence and Sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia (Official Gazette 31/91), formally severing its ties with the SFRY (Slovenia also declared its independence and sovereignty on the same day).

23. Refusing to accept a legitimate decision by the Croatian people, who opted for independence, and aided by the Federal Yugoslav Army, Serbia commenced a military aggression on Croatia (the avowed aim of protection of the Serbian minority in the Republic of Croatia, as was the case later in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was soon exposed as a pretext for Serbian expansionist ambitions expressed in the "all Serbians in one state" ideology).

24. The danger of the potential spreading of the armed conflict and suffering of the civilian population, lead the European Community, or the representatives of its member states, to reach the following decisions daring their session held on August 27, 1991 in Brussels, with the aim of preserving peace in this part of Europe: the need to cease al armed conflicts, set up permanent monitoring mission in Croatia and organize a peace conference on former Yugoslavia (the Peace Conference on Former Yugoslavia begun its work on September 3, 1991 in the Hague).

25. As the peace talks held under the auspices of the European Community failed, and after a three-month-long period of moratorium, the Constitutional Act on the Independence and Sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia came into effect on October 8, 1991.

26. According to the view of the Badinter Commission, the recognition of the independence of the new republics was the sole means of ending all military operations and preventing their escalation in other territories of former Yugoslavia.

27. The European Community and its member states granted diplomatic recognition to the independent and sovereign Republic of Croatia on January 15, 1992. This recognition, supported by the Peace Conference on Former Yugoslavia, opened the way for the adoption of the Vance peace plan for the temporarily occupied territories of Croatia. The process of international recognition ended with Croatia's admission into the United Nations on May 22, 1992. The Republic of Croatia thus became a fully acknowledged subject of international relations and subsequently, as one of the legal successor states of former SFRY, took over its responsibilities in various international treaties, including the International Convention for Abolishment of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (notification on succession took place on October 12 and 22, 1992).

B. Type of government and organization of executive, legislative and judicial bodies

28. The Constitution of December 22, 1990 defines the Republic of Croatia as a unitary, indivisible, democratic and social state in which the power is derived from and for the people, and the people exercise their power through the election of representatives and through direct decision-making (the Constitution, Article 1, Paragraphs 1-3).

29. The Croatian political system is a democracy with the following fundamental values of constitutional order: freedom, equality, national equality, love of peace, social justice, respect for human rights, inviolability of ownership, conservation of nature and the human environment, the rule of law, and a democratic multiparty system (the Constitution, Article 3).

30. As specified by Article 4 of the Constitution, the national government is based on a tripartite division into the legislative, executive and judicial branches.

31. To the persons belonging to national minorities, the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and the Constitutional law on Human Rights and Freedoms and the Rights of Ethnic and National Communities or Minorities in the Republic of Croatia, ensures the rights equal to the rights of the citizens of Croatian ethnicity, as well as all individual and collective human and minority rights. Owing to the change in the structure and the territorial distribution of the population after the liberation of the temporarily occupied territories of Croatia, the Croatian Sabor passed the Constitutional Law on Temporary Suspension of the Constitutional Law on Human Rights and Freedoms and the Rights of Ethnic and National Communities or Minorities ("Official Gazette", no. 68/95), by means of which the exercise of certain provisions of The Constitutional Law on Human Rights and Freedoms and the Rights of Ethnic and National Communities or Minorities ("Official Gazette", no, 34/92), was suspended. It is important to emphasize that the suspension of the said provisions is of a temporary nature, intended to last only until the publication of the first results of the population of the Republic of Croatia census, which will reflect the actual demographic structure of Croatia.

32. The temporarily suspended provisions define special possibilities of administrative organization in the areas where the members of one national minority constitute a majority of the population according to the 1991 census results, which subsequently changed.

33. Like in other plural democracies, the Croatian political system is organized within the constitutional framework, through activities of various interest groups and political parties.

C. Legislative branch

34. Article 70 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia defines the Croatian State Sabor (note: the name of the Croatian Parliament) as the people's representative body vested with the legislative power in the Republic of Croatia, consisting of the House of Representatives and the House of Counties.

35. The House of Representatives (or Deputies) of the Croatian State Sabor is made up of no less than 100, and no more than 160 representatives, elected on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, directly and by secret ballot, according to the principles of a mixed proportionate majority representation system. In the 1995 elections for the House of Representatives, a total number of 127 representatives were elected; 80 representatives from the state list through the proportionate system, 12 representatives of the Croatian diaspora, also through the proportionate system, 28 representatives from the constituencies and 7 representatives of the national minorities, elected through the majority system of representation.

36. By exercising their universal right to vote, the citizens of each county cast a direct and secret ballot to elect 3 representatives for the House of Counties, while the President of the Republic may appoint additional, but no more than 5 representatives, from the ranks of distinguished and deserving citizens (the 1997 House of Counties consisted of 68 representatives. The President appointed 5 representatives, out of which 2 were members of the Serbian national minority.).

37. In accordance with Article 97 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, in the event of resignation or permanent disability of the President to perform his duties, the occurrence of which must be confirmed by the Constitutional Court at the proposal of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the presidential duties and responsibilities temporarily pass to the President of the Croatian Parliament.

38. New presidential elections must take place within a period of 60 days, starting from the date the former President ceased to perform his duties.

D. Executive branch

39. In accordance with the Constitution and law, the chief executives are the President and the Government of the Republic of Croatia.

40. President of the Republic of Croatia is the head of state elected to a five-year term, based on the general and equal right of citizens to cast a direct and secret ballot.

41. In accordance with Article 98 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic of Croatia:

42. The President may be impeached for any violation of the Constitution committed in the performance of his duties, and the proceedings to establish his responsibility are initiated by a two-thirds majority vote of all Deputies in the House of Representatives, subject to confirmation by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia (the Constitutional Court decides by a two-third majority vote of all the judges and relieves the President of his duty).

43. The Government of the Republic of Croatia has a dual political responsibility; to the President of the Republic and to the House of Representatives, according to the principles of the semi-presidential political system. The responsibility of the Government and its members to the President of the Republic, is defined by Article 98 of the Constitution, while Article 113, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution specifies that the House of Representatives may, at the proposal of at least one-tenth of all its Representatives, initiate a vote of confidence to the Prime Minister, individual members of the Government or the Government as a whole.

E. Judicial branch

44. In accordance with the principle of the tripartite division of national government, and as provided by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, independence and autonomy of the Judiciary, permanency of the judicial office and the immunity of the judges (as well as of the Representatives of both Houses of the Parliament) is guaranteed. Judicial power is vested in the courts which administer justice in conformity with the Constitution and the law of the Republic of Croatia, as well as the international treaties which, in the manner defined by the Constitution, became incorporated into the legal system of the Republic of Croatia.

45. The Constitution provides for the permanency of judicial office, and a separate body called High Judiciary Council, in accordance with the principle of the tripartite division of government, and modeled after the contemporary democratic European constitutions, appoints and relieves the judges of their duty and initiates the proceedings for their impeachment. When the Law on High Judiciary Council came into effect, the right to appoint and relieve judges and public prosecutors and attorneys was transferred from the Croatian Parliament to the High Judiciary Council.

46. The judiciary is made up of:

47. According to the Constitution, the Constitutional Court is not a part of the legislative, executive or judicial government, but an autonomous institution whose most important function is to monitor the constitutionality and conformity with law of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the government. The special status of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia is further guaranteed by its authority to autonomously initiate, without a prior motion by any other body, the proceedings to determine whether a certain piece of legislation violates the Constitution (which is not the case with the majority of other democratic constitutions). Apart from the power of judiciary review, the Constitutional Court can also repeal legislation, in the event of its non-conformity with the Constitution (the Constitution, Article 126 and the Constitutional Law on the Constitutional Court, Article 15).

48. According to Article 125 of the Constitution, the Constitutional Court is vested with the following powers: