Zagreb - The parliament's Judiciary Committee on Tuesday decided unanimously to call a new session to which it will invite all five candidates for the Supreme Court president and interview them, after which it will make a decision that is non-binding on the proposer, the President of the Republic.
The hour-long session of the committee dealt with procedure-related ambiguities because committee members were for the first time faced with the fact that more candidates had applied following a public call. Committee members from the Opposition, both left and right ones, insisted that all candidates must be interviewed and that committee members must have the opportunity to ask them about their programmes.
Nikola Grmoja of the opposition Bridge party wondered if the debate made any sense since none of the candidates would be elected without an agreement between the Head of State and the Prime Minister.
He noted that it would nevertheless make sense because it would provide an opportunity to discuss the situation in the judiciary.
Social Democrat committee member Mišel Jakšić welcomed the proposal to interview all candidates as did Sandra Benčić of the Green-Left bloc.
Social Democrat leader Peđa Grbin stressed that MPs should have the possibility to interview the candidates and only then define their position.
"The ruling majority either does not understand or does not care about the parliamentary procedure and the rule of law. I am sure they don't even know what some of the candidates look like," he said.
Grmoja said it was very important to know if the candidates shared the view of Supreme Court vice-president Marin Mrčela, who, he said, wanted to turn judges into a privileged group no one would be able to call to account.
Stephen Bartulica of the Homeland Movement warned that it was impossible to give an opinion on the candidates without having interviewed them. "We must take care of our reputation as the Parliament... it is necessary to give an informed opinion," he said.
Dražen Bošnjaković of the ruling HDZ party said he regretted that possibly relevant candidates would not be interviewed due to the atmosphere in society.
Many who want to apply are discouraged by the atmosphere and the "This is my candidate" stand, he said, alluding to President Zoran Milanović's insistence on the candidacy of Zagreb School of Law professor Zlata Đurđević.
His party colleague and committee deputy chair Krunoslav Katičić first proposed not stalling the process for the selection of the Supreme Court president.
"The HDZ proposes that the Committee should not give a positive opinion on any of the candidates, as decided by the Supreme Court at a general session," Katičić said.
However, after a break for consultations, Katičić joined the Opposition's demand that the committee should hold another session at which all candidates would be interviewed, which received unanimous support.
Đurđević, too, attended the session of the Judiciary Committee as its external member, saying that she had responded to the invitation to attend and noting that she would walk out when her candidacy was discussed.
Following a repeated public call by the State Judicial Council, five candidates submitted their candidacies for the Supreme Court president - Đurđević, Lana Peto Kujundžić, Šimo Savić, Snježana Rizvan, and Boris Vuković.
The candidate for the Supreme Court president is proposed to the parliament by the President of the Republic, with prior advisory opinions from the parliament's Judiciary Committee and the Supreme Court, which decides on the matter in a plenary session.