Grands colloques - Les Cours constitutionnelles, garantie de la qualité démocratique des sociétés ? - 191

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LES COURS CONSTITUTIONNELLES

The guarantees of the individual independence of constitutional court
judges that are most prominent are those concerning the term of office of
constitutional court judges, their functional immunity, the incompatibility
of the duties of a constitutional court judge with certain duties or work,
and those related to the release from duty of constitutional court judges
and the material bases for their independence.
A special expression of the individual independence of a constitutional
court judge and the guarantee of his or her freedom is his or her right to
issue a dissenting opinion to the decision of the constitutional court with
which he or she does not agree, in full or in part.6

A. Composition andelection/appointment
of constitutional court judges
The most frequent critical remarks and proposals for remedying the
defects relate to theelection of constitutional court judges. They can be
heard from the ranks of both legal scientists and experts who have a narrow
specialisation in constitutional law on the one hand, and public and political
factors on the other.7They most frequently relate to the model forelecting
of Croatia from the Point of View of Separation of Powers and the Constitutional Guarantee
of its Independence), Zbornik PFZ, 2012, 62 (5-6), pp. 1379.-1412.
6. The institute of dissenting opinion is one of the most effective guarantees of the individual independence of each constitutional court judge. It expresses his/her constitutional
duty to - by interpreting the constitutional values - independently and impartially reviews
every case before the Constitutional Court.
This institute is guaranteed to each Croatian Constitutional Court judge, who has the
right to a dissenting opinion if the majority of judges at a Session accept a decision or
ruling whose pronouncement and/or statement of reasons are opposed by the judge. The
Constitutional Court judge who assumes a dissenting opinion at a Session with regard to
the pronouncement and/or statement of reasons of a decision or ruling and provides an
oral explanation thereof at the Session, is obliged to provide a written explanation (see
Article 27 para 4 of the Constitutional Act on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Croatia, Official Gazette No 49/02 - consolidated wording).
The dissenting opinion may be drafted by several judges jointly if they oppose the
pronouncement and/or statement of reasons of a decision or ruling based on the same
legal grounds, which they expressed orally at the Session (see Article 50 of the Rules of
Procedure of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia, Official Gazette Nos
181/03, 16/06, 30/08, 123/09, 63/10, 121/10, 19/13, 37/14 and 2/15).
7. See e.g. in: Podolnjak R. Izborsudaca Ustavnogsuda Republike Hrvatske u komparativ
noj perspektivi (Election of judges of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia
from the comparative perspective), Zbornik PFZ, 3. Zagreb, 2007; Omejec J., O potrebnim
promjenama u strukturi hrvatskog ustavnog sudovanja (On the necessary changes in the
structure of the Croatian constitutional judiciary), in Hrvatsko ustavno sudovanje, HAZU,
Zagreb, 2009, or Lauc Z., Novo uređenje statusa sudaca Ustavnogsuda: od načina izbora do
materijalnih osnova njihovog rada (The new regulation of the status of the Constitutional
Grands colloques - Les Cours constitutionnelles, garantie de la qualité démocratique des sociétés ?

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