Supreme Court of Croatia

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.

Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia Croatian: Vrhovni sud Republike Hrvatske
Palace of the Supreme Court is located at the Nikola Šubić Zrinski Square
45°48′41.5″N 15°58′43.5″E
Jurisdiction	Croatia
Location	Zagreb
Coordinates	45°48′41.5″N 15°58′43.5″E
Composition method	Elected by the State Judicial Council
Authorised by	Constitution of the Republic of Croatia
Judge term length	Five years in the first term, life tenure after renewal with mandatory retirement at the age of 70
Number of positions	42
Website	vshr.hr
President
Currently	Radovan Dobronić, mag. iur.
Since	15 October 2021

Judicial system

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.

Administration of justice in the Republic of Croatia is carried out by:

• municipal courts,
• county courts,
• commercial courts,
• administrative courts,
• the High Commercial Court of the Republic of Croatia,
• the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia
• the High Misdemeanour Court of the Republic of Croatia,
• the High Criminal Court of the Republic of Croatia and
• the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia.

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.

Powers and responsibilities

Supreme Court basic duties:

1. ensures the uniform application of law and equal protection of all citizens before the law,
2. discusses all important legal issues arising from the court practice
3. decides on extraordinary legal remedies against final decisions of all courts in the Republic of Croatia (cassation, criminal revision etc.),
4. hears appeals against decisions of county courts rendered in the first instance and, in special cases, hears appeals against decisions of county courts rendered in the second instance,
5. hears appeals against decisions of the High Commercial Court of the Republic of Croatia, the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia, the High Misdemeanour Court of the Republic of Croatia and the High Criminal Court of the Republic of Croatia, and any other court when specified so by the law,
6. decides on the conflict of jurisdiction between the courts in the territory of the Republic of Croatia when they have the same immediately superiour court,
7. provides for the professional development of judges.

Composition

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:

1. self-request
2. becoming permanently incapacitated to perform judicial office
3. becoming unworthy of the judicial office after being sentenced for a criminal offence
4. a decision of the National Judicial Council due to the commitment of an act of serious infringement of discipline
5. when reaching 70 years of age

Presidents of the Supreme Court

No.	Full name (Lifespan)	Term began	Term ended	Service	Notes
1.	Vjekoslav Vidović (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 (1938–)	10 March 1999	2001
7.	Ivica Crnić (1951–)	15 May 2001	15 May 2005	4 years, 0 days	One full term. Did not seek reelection.
8.	Branko Hrvatin (1959–)	19 July 2005	19 July 2017	12 years, 0 days	Three full terms.
9.	Đuro Sessa (1957–)	20 July 2017	20 July 2021	4 years, 0 days	One full term. Did not seek reelection.
10.	Radovan Dobronić (1960–)	15 October 2021	Incumbent (Current term ends on 15 October 2025)	3 years, 38 days	Currently serving first term.

External links

• Supreme Court of Croatia
• High Misdemeanour Court of Croatia (currently available only in Croatian)
• High Commercial Court of Croatia (currently available only in Croatian)
• High Administrative Court of Croatia (currently available only in Croatian)