THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, on the grounds of Article 131/3 of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia (Narodne novine, Nos. 56/1990, 135/1997, 8/1998 – consolidated wording, 113/2000, 124/2000 – consolidated wording, 28/2001, 41/2001 – consolidated wording, 55/2001 – correction), at its session held on 7 February 2006, made the following

PROCEDURAL DECISION
ON REVISIONS AND AMENDMENTS OF THE RULES OF PROCEDURE
OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA

Article 1

In Article 11 of the Rules of Procedure of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia (Narodne novine, No. 181/2003), Point 5, shall be changed and shall read as follows:

“5. appoint and dismiss the Secretary General of the Constitutional Court (hereinafter: Secretary General) in accordance with Articles 71a to 71d of these Rules;”.

Article 2

In Article 17/2 point 4 the words “decisions on admission” shall be replaced by the words “the decision on admission”, the words “transfer to other posts” shall be replaced by the words “transfer to another post”, and the words “Secretary General and the” shall be deleted.

Article 3

Article 71/2 shall be changed and shall read as follows: 
„(2) The General Secretariat shall be headed and administered by the Secretary General.“

Article 4

The subtitle following Article 71, „The Secretary General of the Constitutional Court“, shall be deleted and a new subtitle and the new Articles 71a, 71b, 71c, 71d and 71e shall be added, which shall read as follows:

„Conditions and procedure for appointing the Secretary General“

Article 71a

(1) The person appointed as Secretary General shall be a citizen of the Republic of Croatia and shall, besides other statutory conditions, also comply with the following conditions:
- university qualifications, a graduate lawyer who has passed the bar exam and has at least ten (10) years of experience working on legal tasks, or
- university qualifications, a graduate lawyer with a doctor’s degree in legal science and at least ten (10) years of experience working on legal tasks, or
- university qualifications, a graduate lawyer who has passed the state professional exam and has at least ten (10) years of experience working on jobs that entail special powers and responsibilities in the state administration.
(2) Besides the conditions in paragraph 1 of this article, the person must also comply with the following special conditions:
- active knowledge of the English language (spoken and written)
- good knowledge of the practice of the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg,
- good knowledge of general administrative procedure and regulations on civil servants and employees,
- proficiency in computer use,
- organisational abilities and communication skills.

Article 71b

(1) The President of the Constitutional Court shall initiate the procedure of appointing the Secretary General by publishing a public invitation for candidates to submit substantiated applications for appointment to the duty of Secretary General of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia. Applications shall be submitted within a term of fifteen (15) days from the day of the publication of the public invitation in Narodne novine.
(2) The application in paragraph 1 of this article shall include proof that the candidate fulfils the conditions, the candidate’s CV, list of research and professional papers and their photocopies, recommendations of the relevant institutions and/or persons, and other documents indicating that the candidate is capable of performing the duty of Secretary General.
(3) A special commission appointed by the President of the Constitutional Court (hereinafter: Competent Commission) shall examine all the applications received. Applications that do not contain all the documents, or the documents show that the person does not fulfil the necessary conditions, shall not be taken into account.
(4) The Competent Commission shall invite the candidates who fulfil the conditions required for an assessment of the special professional knowledge and skills. The assessment shall cover the knowledge, skills and capacities mentioned in Article 71a paragraph 2 of these Rules.
(5) The Competent Commission shall submit a report about the assessment procedure to the Session of the Constitutional Court, in which it shall enclose a substantiated proposal for the appointment of the Secretary General.

Article 71c

(1) The Session of the Constitutional Court shall appoint the Secretary General by open ballot, by a majority of votes of the total number of judges.
(2) The decision on appointing the Secretary General shall be published in Narodne novine.

Article 71d

(1) The Secretary General shall be appointed for a term of four years and may be re-appointed.
(2) No later than 30 days before the expiry of his/her term of office the Secretary General shall submit to the President of the Constitutional Court a written report on his work and the work of the General Secretariat in the past term of office (hereinafter: term of office report), for the examination and acceptance of the Session of the Constitutional Court.
(3) The Session of the Constitutional Court shall accept the term of office report by open ballot, by a majority of votes of the total number of judges.
(4) If it accepts the term of office report, the Session of the Constitutional Court shall pass a decision re-appointing the Secretary General for the next term of office. The decision shall be published in Narodne novine.
(5) If it does not accept the term of office report, the Session of the Constitutional Court shall dismiss the Secretary General on the day when his term of office ends. The decision dismissing the Secretary General shall be published in Narodne novine.
(6) In the case in paragraph 5 of this article, the President of the Constitutional Court shall institute proceedings to appoint a Secretary General in accordance with Article 71b of these Rules.

Rights of the Secretary General after being dismissed

Article 71c

(1) The person dismissed from the office of Secretary General in accordance with Article 71d paragraph 5 of these Rules, who was a civil servant at the Constitutional Court before being appointed to the office of Secretary General, has the right to be assigned to a post within the Constitutional Court without a competition, provided that there is a vacancy whose professional conditions he/she fulfils. The person shall submit the request for assignment no later than 30 days from the day when he/she was dismissed from office by the President of the Constitutional Court.
(2) The person dismissed from the office of Secretary General in accordance with Article 71d paragraph 5 of these Rules, who was not a civil servant at the Constitutional Court before being appointed to the office of Secretary General, and the person in paragraph 1 of this article who does not submit a request for assignment to a post at the Constitutional Court, or who does not submit this request in time, has rights in accordance with the law that regulates the rights and obligations of civil servants.

Article 5

A new subtitle shall be added after Article 71d, which shall read: “Tasks of the Secretary General”.

Article 6

A new subtitle shall be added after Article 73, “Annual report on the work of the Secretary General”, and the new Article 73a, which shall read as follows:

“Annual report on the work of the Secretary General

Article 73a

(1) The Secretary General shall make an annual written report about discharging the tasks in Article 72/2 and Article 73 of these Rules in the past year, and shall deliver it to the President of the Constitutional Court on no later than 31 January of the current year.
(2) The President of the Constitutional Court shall deliver the report in paragraph 1 of this article to all the judges for their information.”

Article 7

This procedural decision shall enter into force on the eighth day from its publication in Narodne novine.

Su-184/2003 – 1
Zagreb, 7 February 2006

PRESIDENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Petar Klarić, signed