The politics of Croatia are defined by a parliamentary,representative democratic republic framework,where the Prime Minister of Croatia is the head of government in a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Government and the President of Croatia. Legislative power is vested in the Croatian Parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The parliament adopted the current Constitution of Croatia on 22 December 1990 and decided to declare independence from Yugoslavia on 25 May 1991. The Constitutional Decision on the Sovereignty and Independence of the Republic of Croatia came into effect on 8 October 1991. The constitution has since been amended several times. The first modern parties in the country developed in the middle of the 19th century,and their agenda and appeal changed,reflecting major social changes,such as the breakup of Austria-Hungary,the Kingdom of Serbs,Croats and Slovenes,dictatorship and social upheavals in the kingdom,World War II,the establishment of Communist rule and the breakup of the SFR Yugoslavia.
Croatia recognizes life partnerships for same-sex couples through the Life Partnership Act,making same-sex couples equal to married couples in almost all of its aspects. The Act also recognizes and defines unregistered same-sex relationships as informal life partners,thus making them equal to registered life partnerships after they have been cohabiting for a minimum of 3 years. Croatia first recognized same-sex couples in 2003 through a law on unregistered same-sex unions,which was later replaced by the Life Partnership Act. The Croatian Parliament passed the new law on 15 July 2014,taking effect in two stages. Following a 2013 referendum,the Constitution of Croatia has limited marriage to opposite-sex couples.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,and transgender (LGBT) rights in Croatia have expanded since the turn of the 21st century,especially in the 2010s and 2020s. However,LGBT people still face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBTQ residents. The status of same-sex relationships was first formally recognized in 2003 under a law dealing with unregistered cohabitations. As a result of a 2013 referendum,the Constitution of Croatia defines marriage solely as a union between a woman and man,effectively prohibiting same-sex marriage. Since the introduction of the Life Partnership Act in 2014,same-sex couples have effectively enjoyed rights equal to heterosexual married couples in almost all of its aspects,except adoption. In 2022,a final court judgement allowed same-sex adoption under the same conditions as for mixed-sex couples. Same-sex couples in Croatia can also apply for foster care since 2020. Croatian law forbids all discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation,gender identity,and gender expression in all civil and state matters;any such identity is considered a private matter,and such information gathering for any purpose is forbidden as well.
Branimir Glavaš is a Croatian retired major general and politician. He was one of the founders of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) party which was in power in the 1990s and one of its key figures until a split in 2006.
Jozo Radoš is a Croatian liberal politician currently serving as one out of 11 Croatian members of the European Parliament. He previously served as a Minister of Defence,member of the Croatian Parliament and as an observer in the European Parliament for Croatia.
Renate Weber is a Romanian lawyer and human rights activist who,in November 2007,was elected as Member of the European Parliament. She is the first Romanian appointed as Chief of an EU Election Observation Mission. Between 2004–2005 she was Advisor on constitutional and legislative matters to then President of Romania,Traian Băsescu. She previously served as the Romanian Ombudsman as well from June 2019 until mid June 2021.
Ciril Ribičič is a Slovenian jurist,politician and author. Since 2000,he has served as a member of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia.
The Joint Council of Municipalities in Croatia is an elected consultative sui generis body which constitutes a form of cultural self-government of Serbs in the eastern Croatian Podunavlje region. The body was established in the initial aftermath of the Croatian War of Independence as a part of the international community's efforts to peacefully settle the conflict in self-proclaimed Eastern Slavonia,Baranya and Western Syrmia. The establishment of the ZVO was one of the explicit provisions of the Erdut Agreement which called upon the United Nations to establish its UNTAES transitional administration.
The Anti-Cyrillic protests in Croatia were a series of serbophobic protests in late 2013 against the application of bilingualism in Vukovar,whereby Serbian and the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet were assigned co-official status due to the local minority population. The implementation of this decision became mandatory after the 2011 Croatian census,according to which Serbs in Vukovar comprise more than one-third (34.8%) of Vukovar's total population. Signs in the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet had been put up as the Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities mandates bilingual signs in any area where more than one-third of the population belongs to an ethnic minority. This decision became subject of intense agitation by,among others,Croatian war veterans and many ordinary citizens who believe that due to events,particularly the Battle of Vukovar,the city should have been excluded from the application of the law on minority rights,although protests and vandalism have occurred in other towns and cities. The Serbs of Croatia are a minority group that have the narrowest usage of right to bilingualism among all national minorities in Croatia.
The judiciary of Croatia is a branch of the Government of Croatia that interprets and applies the laws of Croatia,to ensure equal justice under law,and to provide a mechanism for dispute resolution. The legal system of Croatia is a civil law system,historically influenced by Austrian,Hungarian and Yugoslav law,but during the accession of Croatia to the European Union,the legal system was almost completely harmonised with European Union law. The Constitution of Croatia provides for an independent judiciary,led by a Supreme Court and a Constitutional Court. The Ministry of Justice handles the administration of courts and judiciary,including paying salaries and constructing new courthouses. It also administers the prison system.
The Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities in the Republic of Croatia is constitutional law which defines rights of national minorities in Croatia. It is one of in total three Constitutional Acts in the Croatian legal system,with the other two being the Constitutional Act on Implementation of the Constitution of Croatia and the Constitutional Act on the Constitutional Court of Croatia. In its current form,the Act entered into force on 23 December 2002. Its earlier version,under the title Constitutional Act on National and Ethnic Communities or Minorities was passed in December 1991 as a precondition of the international community for the recognition of Croatian independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Act is hierarchically under the Constitution of Croatia and must comply with it,but above ordinary state laws and decisions,and above statutes and decisions of lower levels of government,which all must be in accordance with this law. Additionally,two special laws were created to define rights regarding education in minority languages and specific rights on the usage of minority languages in public life. Additionally,the Constitution of Croatia itself has articles directly relating to the protection of national minorities,and lists traditional minorities in Croatia.
Ljerka Mintas-Hodak is a Croatian politician and jurist who served as a Deputy Prime Minister of Croatia,and first Minister of European Integration. Mintas-Hodak co-founded the Zagreb School of Economics and Management and after she retired from government service,she became manager of the Law Department. She also manages the Ivana Hodak Foundation that was created in honor of here late daughter.
Marijana Petir is a Croatian politician,former Member of the European Parliament.
Anka Mrak-Taritaš is a Croatian politician and architect who has been member of the Croatian Parliament for the II electoral district since the 2016 parliamentary election,and a member of the Zagreb Assembly since 2017. Between 2012 and 2016,she was Minister of Construction and Spatial Planning in the center-left cabinet of Zoran Milanović. Mrak-Taritašis also president of the Civic Liberal Alliance party.
Miroslav Šeparović is a Croatian lawyer who serves as the 5th President of the Constitutional Court of Croatia since 13 June 2016,had previously served as a 5th Minister of Justice in the Cabinet of Zlatko Mateša from 1995 to 1998.
Ingrid Antičević-Marinović is a Croatian lawyer and former politician who serves as justice of the Constitutional Court of Croatia since 7 June 2016. She had previously served as a 9th Minister of Justice,Public Administration and Local Self-government in the center-left Cabinet of Ivica Račan II from 2001 to 2003. She was the first woman to serve as Justice Minister in Croatia as well as first woman lawyer in Zadar's history.
Dejan Jović is a political scientist from Croatia. He is a full-time professor at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Zagreb. From 2012 to 2020,Jovićwas editor-in-chief of the Croatian Political Science Review,one of the leading academic journals of political science and social science in Southeast Europe. He is also one of the founders and editor-in-chief of the peer reviewed journal Tragovi:Journal for Serbian and Croatian Topics published by the Serb National Council and the Archive of Serbs in Croatia.
Jasna Horvat is a Croatian writer,cultural theorist,and professor at the University of Osijek. She writes novels,essays,and books for children and youth,as well as academic works. Most of her works have been assessed as Oulipian.
Mislav Kolakušić is a Croatian lawyer and politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament for Croatia since 2 July 2019,having been elected to the position at the 2019 election as an Independent. Previously,he served as a judge at the Zagreb Commercial Court.
Ksenija Turković is a Croatian jurist and current vice-president and was judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
