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Zagreb - The Sabor on Friday by a majority vote amended the Government Act as well as the State Attorneys Council Act (DOV) and the State Judicial Council Act (DSV).
The amendments to the Government Act, which 81 deputies supported along with 45 abstentions, provide for stripping of immunity government ministers in corruption cases prosecuted ex officio.
These criminal proceedings may now be conducted without the prior approval of the government. According to the previous provisions, ministers had immunity from criminal proceedings for all crimes that were punishable with up to five years in prison.
Amendments to the DOV and DSV acts additionally regulate the procedure for appointing judicial officials and the circumstances of termination of their office, as well as issues related to the plan for filling vacancies and the institute of transfers.
The new laws also increase the responsibility and transparency of the work of judicial officials, regulate the disciplinary responsibility of judges, and introduce a new disciplinary offence - failure to consent to a security check.
Disciplinary breaches include the improper performance of duties and the onset of the statute of limitations due to failure to take action in a procedure without a justified reason.
Judges' autonomy is being violated
A judge's norm is also being raised from 80 to 100% for the proper performance of duties.
Ahead of voting for the amendments, Dalija Orešković (Center) expressed dissatisfaction with the laws. She reiterated that parliamentarians in councils should not assess candidates for judicial officials.
Sandra Benčić (Green-Left Bloc) said that Croatia is at the bottom of the ranking in the EU in terms of citizens' trust in the judiciary and that the autonomy of judges is being violated because they are liable to disciplinary action if they refuse a security check. Not one EU member state conducts security checks of judges every five years. This is the result of pressure by the executive authority on judges and the judiciary, she said.
The Sabor adopted several reports, including on Croatia's development aid abroad, the work of the Electronic Media Council in 2020, the work of the Personal Data Protection Agency in 2020 and 2021, and the business operations of the Croatian Homeland War Veterans Fund in 2021.