Composition of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia

Assoc. Prof. MAROCHINI ZRINSKI, MAŠA, PhD (1983)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 December 2024 - )
Deputy President of the Court (13 April 2026 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka, in 2007. She obtained her LLM in Human Rights from the Dundee Faculty of Law (Scotland, United Kingdom) in 2009, where she also earned her PhD in 2013.

From 2006 to 2007, she volunteered in the Civil and Criminal Division of the Municipal Court in Rijeka. She has been employed at the Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka, since 2007, first as an assistant, then senior assistant, assistant professor, and associate professor in the Department of Theory of Law and State, Philosophy of Law, Human Rights, and Public Policy.Since 2023, she has served as Head of the Institute for Human Rights at the same Faculty.

She has participated as a researcher in numerous scientific and professional projects in Croatia and abroad and as a visiting lecturer at several foreign universities. Since 2008, she has organised and taught at the Summer School of Human Rights and, since 2009, has served as academic mentor for University of Rijeka law students competing in international Moot Court competitions in human rights. She has been a member of various commissions and committees at the Faculty of Law in Rijeka and executive editor of the Collected Works of the Faculty of Law in Rijeka. She is the author and head of the Judicial Academy’s course in the field of human rights.

Since 2022, she has been a regular member of the Croatian Academy of Legal Sciences and, since 2024, of the Rijeka Society of Lawyers.

She is the author and co-author of several scientific and professional publications, including a monograph on human rights. She has been an organiser, lecturer, and participant in numerous national and international scientific and professional conferences and symposia.

ABRAMOVIĆ, ANDREJ (1966)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - 6 December 2024)
Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 December 2024 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1993. Passed the Bar Examination in 1995. After graduating, he worked first in the law firm of Juraj Vedirna and then in the law firm of Milorad Čađenović, where he worked until 1996 when he was elected judge of Zagreb Municipal Court. From 2007 to 2012 he was judge at Zagreb Municipal Civil Court, where for a certain time he headed the group for media lawsuits. From 2012 until he was elected judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, he was judge at Zagreb Administrative Court, and acted as its President. He was member of the Ministry of Justice working group for monitoring and implementing the Administrative Disputes Act.

He is the author of several professional papers in civil and civil procedural law as well as in administrative and constitutional law. He has participated and presented papers in many national and international scholarly and professional symposiums, seminars, congresses and other gatherings.

BEZBRADICA JELAVIĆ, SANJA (1969)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 December 2024 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, in 1995 and passed the bar examination in 1998. She has also completed numerous additional professional training programmes in various fields of law.

She began her career as a legal trainee at a law office in 1995. She was registered as an attorney in 2000. She continuously practised law until her appointment to the Constitutional Court, representing clients in a wide range of proceedings. She has been particularly committed to the protection of human rights and the representation of vulnerable groups. On several occasions she successfully represented applicants before the European Court of Human Rights.

She was a member of the Council of Europe’s lawyer network specialising in work with women victims of violence and in the prevention of human trafficking. From 2021 to 2024 she served as a member of the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. She has served multiple terms as a member of the Croatian Government’s National Committee for the Prevention of Human Trafficking. She has been appointed to several working groups of the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy and the Ministry of Justice, focusing on human rights protection, in particular the prevention of violence against women and domestic violence, and combating discrimination.

She has conducted numerous human rights training programmes, has been a speaker at many domestic and international conferences, and has contributed to several publications in the fields of family and criminal law.

In 2022 she received the Zagrepčanka godine (“Zagreb Woman of the Year”) award and a certificate of appreciation from The Advocates for Human Rights for her work in combating domestic violence. In 2019, the United States Department of Justice awarded her a special commendation for extraordinary service and dedication in providing training on transnational organised crime related to human trafficking and migrant smuggling, and for advancing the Ministry’s international efforts in promoting the rule of law. In 2021 she was named one of the Heroes of the Year by Balkan Insight, a network of investigative journalists - people who made a difference.

BOŠNJAKOVIĆ, DRAŽEN (1961.)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 December 2024 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, in 1986 and passed the bar exam in 1997.

He commenced his career at the law office of Hinko Krenčić in 1986 and continued to work as an expert staff member in administrative bodies of the Assembly of the Municipality of Ivanić Grad until 1993. From 1993 to 1997, he served as Secretary of Sisak-Moslavina County. He opened his own law office in 1997, suspended its operation in 2005, and reactivated it from 2012 to 2015. Between 1997 and 2017, he was member of the Assembly of Zagreb County on several occasions and served as its President from 2013 to 2017. He served several terms as Member of Parliament (2003-2007, 2007-2011, 2016-2020 and 2020-2024). As Member of Parliament, he twice chaired the Committee on the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System and was also a member of the Judiciary Committee. Before assuming the position of Minister of Justice, which he held from 2010 to 2011 and from 2017 to 2020, he served as State Secretary in the same ministry. As Minister of Justice he was involved in the European Union accession process of the Republic of Croatia (opening and closing Chapter 23 - Justice and Fundamental Rights) as well as in numerous reforms of the justice system. During Croatia’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, he chaired the Justice and Home Affairs Council composed of Ministers of Justice of the EU Member States.

GALIĆ, ANTE (1961)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 December 2024 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, in 1986. He passed the bar exam in 1988 and the notary public exam in 1995.

He commenced his career in 1987 as municipal misdemeanours judge and in the municipal tax administration. From 1992 to 1994, he worked as an advisor and judge at the City Misdemeanours Court. Before his appointment as judge of the Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia in 1999, he was employed at the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Croatia, where he held the positions of advisor, senior advisor, deputy head of department, head of section, and deputy assistant minister in the Directorate for Organisation and Human Resources. He became President of the Administrative Court in 2010, a position he held until 2012, when he was appointed President of the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia. While holding both positions, he played a prominent role in implementing the reform of administrative adjudication in Croatia. From 2022 until his appointment as judge of the Constitutional Court, he served as judge and as Head of the Department for Monitoring European Regulations and Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights at the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia.

He was a member of the Curriculum Council of the Judicial Academy and a member of the State Judicial Council (2007–2010). He is currently a member of the Bar Exam Commission of the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation.

He is the author and co-author of numerous scientific and professional publications in the field of administrative law.

He has participated in many domestic and international professional seminars and conferences, and has lectured at seminars for legal trainees organised by the Judicial Academy and the Croatian Bar Association. He established and served as editor of the annual conference News in Administrative Law and Administrative Adjudication. He has also taken part in numerous working groups for drafting legislative proposals and other regulations, most notably the Administrative Disputes Act.

For his scholarly work and for fostering cooperation between the Council of State of the French Republic and the High Administrative Court, he was awarded two silver medals by the Council of State of the French Republic.

Prof. KOSTADINOV, BILJANA, PhD (1963)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 December 2024 - )

Full Professor with tenure and Head of the Chair for Constitutional Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb (2019-2025), and President of the Croatian Association for Constitutional Law (2023-).

She is the founder of the Croatian-Canadian Academic Society, a member of the Scientific Council for State Administration, Justice and the Rule of Law of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU), a member of the Academy of Legal Sciences of Croatia, and a member of the French Association for Constitutional Law. She served as a member of the Editorial Board of the Collection of Papers of the Faculty of Law in Zagreb and the journal Croatian and Comparative Public Administration.

She has published more than eighty papers in domestic and international scientific books and journals. She is the editor and co-author of five international collections, author of the scientific monograph Contemporary French Parliamentarism (2004), and editor and co-author of the scientific monographs Comparative Constitutional Law - Separation of Powers (2022) and Comparative Constitutional Law - Constitutional Adjudication (2024), for which she and other co-authors received the 2024 Dr Jadranko Crnić Foundation's acknowledgment as a work of particular significance for promoting the legal profession in the Republic of Croatia.

She received an award from the French Association for Constitutional Law in 2005 for her contribution to the science of comparative constitutional law and scientific cooperation. She was awarded several scholarships by the Government of the French Republic (Institut Charles de Gaulle - Fondation Charles de Gaulle, Paris; Université Panthéon-Sorbonne Paris I, Centre de recherches de droit constitutionnel, Paris), as well as two Fulbright scholarships (Institute of United States Studies, University of London, and “The U.S. Constitution: Origins, Evolution & Contemporary Issues”, Lafayette College, Easton, USA, Fulbright American Studies Institute).

She graduated in 1986 from the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, where she received her Master’s degree at Postgraduate Studies in Administrative and Political Sciences with the thesis “Asymmetrical Federalism - The Case of Canada” (1991), and her PhD in Constitutional Law with the thesis “The Position of the President of the Republic in the French Fifth Republic (1958-1995) - Political-Institutional Foundations, Constitutional Model and Reality” (1998).

She has been employed at the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, since 1988, and has also taught at the Faculty of Law, University of Rijeka (2000-2005), the Police Academy in Zagreb (2004-2006), the Postgraduate Specialist Programme in European Studies (a joint programme of the University of Zagreb and Université Panthéon-Assas Paris II) (2000-2007), the American Studies programme at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb (2004-2009), and the Postgraduate Study in Comparative Politics at the Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb (2004-2009).

She leads several international and European scientific projects at the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb. She has participated in numerous international scientific conferences.

KUŠAN, LOVORKA (1968)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - 6 December 2024)
Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 December 2024 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1991. Passed the Bar Examination in 1994.

From 1991 to 1994 she was legal trainee in the law firm of Zlatko Kušan in Ivanić-Grad. From 1995 to 1996 she worked in the Croatian Composers' Society as a lawyer dealing with copyright protection. In 1998 she was enrolled in the Register of Attorneys of the Croatian Bar Association and worked as an attorney at law until her election as judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia. As of 2000 she has represented clients before the European Court of Human Rights, and has been engaged in strategic litigation in the fields of hate crime, the right to a home, discrimination, the right to education and the rights of persons with disabilities.

From 1997 to 2006 she was co-worker in projects of the Croatian Law Centre related to forced migration, elections, the judiciary and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Council of Europe. From 1996 to 1999 she was a human rights activist with the Croatian Helsinki Committee and from 1998 to 1999 a member of this Committee. From 1997 to 2014 she was co-worker of the European Roma Rights Centre (Budapest), and also collaborated with the Open Society Institute (New York) on a project on forced migrations and with the Centre for Peace Studies (Centar za mirovne studije) in the fields of the rights of asylum seekers and prohibition of discrimination. From 2001 to 2002 she was local consultant of the Council of Europe for the "Report on obstacles facing the Roma minority of Croatia in accessing citizenship, housing, health and social assistance rights", and from 2003 to 2004 on the project "Roma access to employment". From 2009 to June 2016 she was member of the European Network of Legal Experts in the Non-Discrimination Field.

She has held many lectures on the applicaton of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and on the prevention of discrimination and has presented papers at numerous conferences, round tables and expert gatherings on human rights. She has published several expert articles on the case law of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

MLINARIĆ, RAJKO (1958), MSc

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - 6 December 2024)
Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 December 2024 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1982. Gained the title of MA in social sciences in 1996 from the Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitating of the University of Zagreb, defending the penological-law topic “Course and Success of the Treatment of Persons Convicted to Short Prison Sentences”. Passed the Bar Examination in 1985, and the notary public examination in 1994.

After completing his studies, he worked at the Municipal Court in Zlatar, and from 1984 at the Municipal Public Prosecution Office in Zlatar, first as public prosecution trainee, then as expert associate, and, finally, as municipal public prosecutor. From 1992 to 1996, he was manager of the District Prison in Zagreb, and from 1996 to 1998 deputy state attorney of the Republic of Croatia. He was enrolled in the Register of Attorneys in 1998, and, until being elected as judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, he practised as an attorney and represented parties in several branches of law, particularly in a large number of criminal, civil and constitutional proceedings. From 2015 until being elected judge of the Constitutional Court, he was judge of the Higher Disciplinary Court of the Croatian Bar Association. He conducted practical exercises and workshops in the area of criminal and criminal-procedural law in the Department of Criminal Law and the Department of Criminal Procedural Law of the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb. He is member of the Croatian Association for Criminal Law Science and Practice.

He is the author of a number of professional and research papers, mainly in the field of criminal law. He has participated in a large number of domestic and foreign congresses and seminars.

He is a Homeland War veteran who defended the sovereignty of the Republic of Croatia from 1992 to 1996.

ŠUMANOVIĆ, MIROSLAV (1957)

Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 June 2016 - 6 December 2024)
Judge of the Constitutional Court (7 December 2024 - )

Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb in 1981. Passed the Bar Examination in 1984.

From 1984 to 1988 he was judge at Sisak Municipal Court, and from 1988 at Zagreb Municipal Court, where, from 1993 to 1996, he was president of the Civil Department. In 1996 he was elected judge and president of Zagreb County Court. In 2002 he was enrolled in the Register of Attorneys of the Croatian Bar Association and worked as an attorney at law until his election as judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia.

From 1992 to 2002 he was member and president of the Municipal and the City of Zagreb Electoral Commission, respectively, in parliamentary, presidential and local elections. From 2001 to 2002 he coordinated and headed the group for drafting the Act on the Liability of the Republic of Croatia for Damage Caused by Terrorist Acts and Public Demonstrations, the Act on the Liability of the Republic of Croatia for Damage Caused by Members of the Croatian Armed Forces and Police During the Homeland War, the Act on the Liability of the Republic of Croatia for Damage Caused in the Former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) for which the Former SFRY was Responsible.

He has published several professional papers dealing with civil and civil procedural law, and criminal and criminal procedural law in connection with psychiatric law and constitutional law. He is co-author of the book "Novelties in Civil Procedure", 2003, and author of the Commentary on the Protection of Persons with Mental Disorders Act, 2000. He has presented papers and participated in many scientific and professional symposiums, seminars, congresses and other gatherings.

He was decorated with the Order of the Croatian Wattle.

Election of the judges of the Constitutional Court

ELECTION OF THE JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

The Constitutional Court consists of thirteen judges elected by the Croatian Parliament for a term of eight years from among notable jurists, especially judges, public prosecutors, lawyers and university professors of law.

Judges of the Constitutional Court must be Croatian citizens, jurists, with at least 15 years of experience in the legal profession, who have become distinguished by their scientific or professional work or public activities. A person who has obtained a doctoral degree in legal science and fulfils all the conditions mentioned may be elected judge of the Constitutional Court if he/she has at least 12 years of experience in the legal profession.

The procedure for electing a judge of the Constitutional Court is instituted by the Committee of the Croatian Parliament competent for the Constitution (hereinafter: competent committee), which publishes an invitation in the Official Gazette Narodne novine to judicial institutions, law faculties, the chamber of attorneys, legal associations, political parties, and other legal persons and individuals, to propose candidates for the election of one or more judges of the Constitutional Court (hereinafter: invitation). An individual may propose himself as candidate.

The invitation gives the conditions for electing a judge of the Constitutional Court laid down in the Constitution and in the Constitutional Act on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, the deadline for proposing a candidate to the competent committee, and the enclosures that have to be delivered with the proposal.

After the expiry of the deadline, the competent committee investigates whether the candidates comply with the conditions for being elected judge and rejects invalid candidacies.

The competent committee performs a public interview with each of the candidates who comply with the conditions for being elected judge of the Constitutional Court and on the basis of data presented and interview results draws up a short list of candidates for judges of the Constitutional Court. As a rule the short list includes more candidates than the number of judges of the Constitutional Court to be elected.

The competent committee submits to the Croatian Parliament, together with its proposal, a list of all the candidates who comply with the conditions for being elected judge of the Constitutional Court. The proposal of the competent committee must include the reasons showing why the committee gave a particular candidate priority over the other candidates.

Members of the Croatian Parliament vote for each proposed candidate individually.

A candidate proposed for judge of the Constitutional Court shall be considered to have been elected judge of the Constitutional Court if a two-thirds majority of the total number of members of the Croatian Parliament vote for him.

OATH OF THE JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Before entering office, judges of the Constitutional Court take the following oath before the President of the Republic of Croatia:

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Croatia".

ENTERING OFFICE OF THE JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

An elected judge of the Constitutional Court enters office on the day when the term of office of his/her predecessor expires.

A judge of the Constitutional Court who has been elected in place of a judge relieved of office before the expiry of his/her term of office enters office at the time determined by the Croatian Parliament.

TERM OF OFFICE OF THE JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

The term of office of the judge of the Constitutional Court lasts eight years.

The term of office of the judge of the Constitutional Court begins on the day when he enters into office.

Six months before the term of office of a judge of the Constitutional Court expires, the President of the Constitutional Court is obliged to notify the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament thereof. 

IMMUNITY OF THE JUDGES OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Judges of the Constitutional Court enjoy the same immunity as the members of the Croatian Parliament.

No judge of the Constitutional Court is responsible under criminal law, nor may be detained or punished for an opinion expressed or vote cast in the Constitutional Court.

No judge of the Constitutional Court may be detained, nor shall criminal proceedings be instituted against him/her, without the approval of the Constitutional Court. A judge of the Constitutional Court may be detained without the approval of the Constitutional Court only if he/she has been caught in the act of committing a criminal offence for which a penalty of imprisonment of more than five years is prescribed by law. In such a case the state body that arrested the judge shall instantly notify the President of the Constitutional Court thereof.

The Constitutional Court may decide that the judge against whom criminal proceedings have been instituted may not perform his/her duties at the Constitutional Court during the proceedings.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL PROHIBITIONS DURING THE TERM OF OFFICE OF THE JUDGE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

Judges of the Constitutional Court may not perform any other public or professional duty.

A university professor of law (assistant professor, associate professor and full professor) elected as judge of the Constitutional Court may, on a part-time basis and to a lesser extent, continue performing educational and scientific work as a university professor of law. Other scientific and expert activities, membership in institutes and associations of lawyers, as well as in humanitarian, cultural, sports and other associations, are not considered to be public or professional duties.

A judge of the Constitutional Court may not be a member of any political party, nor may he/she in his/her public activities and behaviour express personal support for any political party.

RELIEF OF OFFICE OF A JUDGE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BEFORE THE EXPIRY OF HIS/HER TERM OF OFFICE

A judge of the Constitutional Court may be relieved of office before the expiry of the term for which he/she has been elected:
- at his/her own request,
- if he/she has been sentenced to imprisonment for a criminal offence,
- if he/she has become permanently incapable of performing his/her duty.

Grounds for relieving a judge of the Constitutional Court of office before the expiry of the term of his/her office are determined by the Constitutional Court, which must notify the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament thereof.

If a judge of the Constitutional Court requests to be relieved of office, and if the Croatian Parliament does not decide upon the request within a period of three months, the office of judge of the Constitutional Court will terminate by force of the Constitutional Act when the period of three months from making the request has expired.

The court of justice that sentenced a judge of the Constitutional Court to prison must deliver without delay the final judgment to the Constitutional Court, which will notify the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament immediately.

Proceedings for determining the permanent incapacity of a judge of the Constitutional Court from performing his/her duty are instituted at the proposal of the President of the Constitutional Court to the Constitutional Court. Proceedings for determining the permanent incapacity of the President of the Constitutional Court are instituted at the proposal of three judges of the Constitutional Court to the Constitutional Court, and the Constitutional Court decides on the proposal by majority vote of all its judges.

During criminal proceedings against a judge, or during proceedings for determining the permanent incapacity of a judge to perform his/her duty, the Constitutional Court judge may be suspended from duty. The President of the Constitutional Court proposes the suspension, and the Constitutional Court decides on the proposal by majority vote of all its judges.

In the case of proceedings against the President of the Constitutional Court, the proposal for his/her suspension is made by three judges. The Constitutional Court decides on the proposal for suspension of the President of the Constitutional Court by majority vote of all its judges.

A judge of the Constitutional Court whose term of office has expired, as well as a judge who has been relieved of office before the expiry of his/her term of office at his/her own request, or because of permanent incapacity to perform his/her duty, has the right to retire under the same conditions as the members of the Croatian Parliament.