Court Name: | Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia Croatian: Vrhovni sud Republike Hrvatske |
Jurisdiction: | Croatia |
Location: | Zagreb |
Coordinates: | 45.8115°N 15.9788°W |
Authority: | Constitution of the Republic of Croatia |
Terms: | Five years in the first term, life tenure after renewal with mandatory retirement at the age of 70 |
Positions: | 42[1] |
Website: | vshr.hr |
Chiefjudgetitle: | President |
Chiefjudgename: | Radovan Dobronić, mag. iur. |
Termstart: | 15 October 2021 |
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Vrhovni sud Republike Hrvatske) is the highest court in the country, which ensures the uniform application of laws and equal justice to all.
Courts protect the legal order of the Republic of Croatia as established by the Constitution and law, and provide for the uniform application of law and equal justice for all.[2]
Administration of justice in the Republic of Croatia is carried out by:
N.B. Since July 2018 (effective as of 1 January 2019) former misdemeanour courts have become specialized sections within municipal courts (2 misdemeanour courts - in Zagreb and in Split - have been retained as separate courts - the Municipal Misdemeanour Court in Zagreb and the Municipal Misdemeanour Court in Split), also former Municipal Court in Zagreb has been divided into three courts: the Municipal Civil Court in Zagreb, the Municipal Criminal Court in Zagreb and the Municipal Labour Court in Zagreb.
Supreme Court basic duties:
The President of the Supreme Court is elected and relieved of duty by the Croatian Parliament at the proposal of the President of the Republic and following a prior opinion of the Parliament's Justice Committee and the Plenary Session of the Supreme Court.
Judicial office is permanent, but exceptionally, at assuming the judicial office for the first time, judges are appointed for a five-year term. After the renewal of the appointment, judges assume their duty as permanent.
All judges are appointed by the National Judicial Council and relieves them of judicial duty, as well as decides on their disciplinary responsibility.
A judge can be relieved of judicial office upon:
No. | Full name (Lifespan) | Term began | Term ended | Service | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Vjekoslav Vidović[3] (1919–2006) | 12 December 1990 | 14 February 1992 | 1 year, 64 days | Went into mandatory retirement after a partial term of office. | |
2. | Zlatko Crnić (1940–1992) | 29 March 1992 | 29 September 1992 | 184 days | Died in a car accident during his first term. | |
3. | Milan Vuković (1933–2018) | 1 December 1992 | 1995 | First term. | ||
4. | Krunislav Olujić (1952–) | 26 May 1995 | 19 February 1997 | 1 year, 269 days | Relieved from office by the National Judicial Council on 14 January 1997 and decision is later confirmed by the Chamber of Counties of the Croatian Parliament. | |
5. | Milan Vuković (1933–2018) | 28 February 1997 | 1999 | Second term. | ||
6. | Marijan Ramušćak[4] (1938–) | 10 March 1999 | 2001 | |||
7. | Ivica Crnić[5] (1951–) | 15 May 2001 | 15 May 2005 | 4 years, 0 days | One full term. Did not seek reelection. | |
8. | Branko Hrvatin[6] (1959–) | 19 July 2005 | 19 July 2017 | 12 years, 0 days | Three full terms. | |
9. | Đuro Sessa (1957–)[7] | 20 July 2017 | 20 July 2021 | 4 years, 0 days | One full term. Did not seek reelection. | |
10. | Radovan Dobronić[8] [9] (1960–) | 15 October 2021 | Incumbent (Current term ends on 15 October 2025) | Currently serving first term. |