Following the Constitutional Court’s warning that a week-long discussion on draft constitutional amendments was unacceptably brief, the parliamentary Committee on the Constitution on Friday extended the discussion for another week. Under the Public Consultation Code, a fortnight is a minimum required for public discussions on laws. Goran Beus Richembergh of the ruling coalition’s Croatian People’s…
Month: November 2013
Constitutional changes – what will they bring?
The chair of the parliamentary Constitution Committee, Pedja Grbin, would not comment on Tuesday’s decision by the Constitutional Court that a six-day public discussion on constitutional changes was unacceptably short and that the procedure for amending the Constitution was in contravention of the constitutional provision on the rule of law as the highest value of…
Marriage referendum NGOs reveal campaign costs
The “Citizens vote against” group on Tuesday presented the cost of its preparations for a December 1 marriage referendum, amounting to HRK 285,000 so far, and called on the “In the name of the family” initiative, which had collected signatures for the referendum, to do the same. Vanja Skoric of “Citizens vote against” told the…
Activists call on Croatians to vote “No” at marriage referendum
Dozens of nongovernmental organisations dealing with various human rights issues on Wednesday rallied in downtown Zagreb to call on Croatians to vote against a constitutional definition of marriage as a union of a man and a woman during a referendum on this matter to be held in Croatia on 1 December. Those activists said today…
“Current events reflect widespread intolerance”
Human rights ombudswoman Lora Vidovic has said on the occasion of International Day for Tolerance, observed on November 16, that current events in society indicate that unacceptable and discriminatory expression is widespread in Croatia, mainly against minorities, and that the basic tool in fighting for a more tolerant society is knowledge. Current events regarding the…
NGOs send pope letter concerned over recent events in Vukovar
Several nongovernmental organisations sent a letter to Pope Francis concerning the recent events in Vukovar in which they express their concern over the attitude by the episcopate in Croatia, “and in particular Cardinal Josip Bozanic and some other bishops who publicly expressed their objection to bilingualism in this eastern Croatian town.” “In their public appearances…