Introduction

AuthorBojic, Ines
Pages13-14
13
INTRODUCTION
The national legal system
The Republic of Croatia is a unitary state.20 Basic legal principles are set out by the
Constitution. Laws must be in accordance with the Constitution, and other rules and
regulations must be in accordance with the Constitution and laws.21
Government is organised on the principle of the separation of powers into the legislative,
executive and judicial branches, but limited by the right to local and regional self-
government guaranteed by the Constitution.22
The judicial system has two levels (first instance and appeal), with the possibility of
extraordinary remedies (such as review by the Supreme Court). As a rule, administrative
decisions can be subject to judicial review. The role of the Supreme Court, as the highest
court, is to ensure the uniform application of laws and equal justice for all.23 Judicial
office is permanent. In principle, the courts’ decisions are binding only on the parties to
the case and do not set a precedent.
The State Attorney’s Office is an autonomous and independent judicial body empowered
and obliged to proceed against those who commit criminal and other punishable offences,
to undertake legal measures to protect the property of the Republic of Croatia and to
provide legal remedies to protect the Constitution and law.
The duties of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia include: deciding on the
conformity of laws with the Constitution; deciding on the conformity of other regulations
with the Constitution and laws; deciding on constitutional complaints against individual
decisions of Government bodies, bodies of local and regional self-government and legal
entities with public authority, when these decisions violate human rights and
fundamental freedoms or the right to local and regional self-government guaranteed by
the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia; and ensuring that constitutionality and
legality are observed and notifying the Croatian Parliament when instances of
unconstitutionality and illegality are observed.24
The duty of the People’s Ombudsperson, as a commissioner of the Croatian Parliament, is
to protect the constitutional and legal rights of citizens in their dealings with the state
administration and bodies vested with public authority.
Croatia became a Member State of the European Union on 1 July 2013.
International treaties that have been concluded and ratified in accordance with the
Constitution and, have been promulgated and have entered into force are part of the
domestic legal system and have legal force superior to law.25
20 Constitution of the Republic of Croatia (Ustav Republike Hrvatske), 22 December 1990, Article 1. Official
Gazette 56/1990, 135/1997, 113/2000, 28/2001, 76/2010, 5/2014, http://www.usud.hr/en/theconstitution
(According to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Parliament, when making the
consolidated text of the Constitution, failed to correctly number the articles. That is the reason why the
same articles of the Constitution are often enumerated differently depending on the source and time of a
creation of a document. In this document, the numbering corrected by the Constitutional Court will be
used).
21 Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, 22 December 1990, Article 5.
22 Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, 22 December 1990, Article 4.
23 Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, 22 December 1990, Article 116.
24 Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, 22 December 1990, Article 125.
25 Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, 22 December 1990, Article 134.

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