21 December 2010 - The Judges of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia were received today by the President of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Ivo Josipovic. In an-one-hour working meeting the President of the Constitutional Court Professor Jasna Omejec informed President Josipovic and his advisers about the workings and activities of the Court and underlined the existing problems in the domestic constitutional judicature. These include in particular the following: lack of the proper jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court, inadequate election procedure of its judges and lack of respect for their independency, lack of the Court's institutional autonomy, especially with regard to the position of constitutional court legal advisers, inadequate financial autonomy of the Court and underemployment. "The Constitutional Court must enjoy the reputation proportional to its functions, and all Croatian citizens must obey its decisions", President Josipovic said and added: "I wish for the Constitutional Court to continue with its independent and highly expert work. It has been passing extremely important decisions that shape the Croatian society. Therefore I think that it is of outmost importance that all of us respect its decisions, and, if necessary, also criticize them - but above all respect them. This is the essence of the constitutional judiciary."
