Parliament: Amendments to three laws to facilitate entry into judicial office

On 1 July 2026, Minister of Justice, Administration and Digital Transformation Damir Habijan presented the legislative proposals for amendments to three laws in the second reading: the Judicial Academy Act, the State Judicial Council Act and the State Attorneys' Council Act

Presenting the legislative proposals, Minister Habijan stressed that the proposed amendments were aimed at improving the system of appointment, promotion and dismissal of judicial officials and creating better conditions for the first entry into judicial office. 

He stressed that an analysis of the age structure of judicial officials showed the need for changes to the existing system. A comparison of data from 2014 and 2024 shows that the share of judges aged 60-70 increased from 14 to 30 percent, while the share of judges aged 30-40 decreased from 16 to just 7 percent. Moreover, there are currently no judges under the age of 30.

Speaking about the amendments to the State Judicial Council Act and the State Attorneys' Council Act, the Minister explained that they were almost identical in content and differed only in that one law applies to judges and the other to deputy state attorneys. The new appointment model will evaluate candidates on the basis of their success in the bar examination, the appraisal of their performance as advisers in the judicial bodies or their success in a special written test before the competent council. For all candidates, the outcome of the interviews before the council will also be important, while for already appointed judicial officials the evaluation of the performance of judicial duties will be taken into account.

The Minister also pointed out that the proposed amendments fulfilled one of the recommendations of the Public Governance Committee in the process of Croatia’s accession to the OECD. The amendments regulate more clearly the obligation to declare significant changes in the assets of judicial officials and their family members, with changes in the value of assets exceeding EUR 13,000 being considered significant. 

Between the two parliamentary readings, certain revisions of the legislative proposals were also accepted. These include alignment of terminology with the Criminal Procedure Act and imposing an obligation on the State Judicial Council to report at least twice a year to the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation and the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia on the implementation of the Plan for Filling Judicial Vacancies.

Explaining the amendments to the Judicial Academy Act, Minister Habijan stressed that they would not abolish the State School for Judicial Officials, but redefine its role. Instead of it being a requirement for the first entry into judicial office, the State School will focus on professional training and lifelong education of judicial officials, especially in the areas of frequent legislative changes and the application of EU law.

The proposed amendments also increase the number of members of the Judicial Academy Programming Council by four new members - representatives of the High Criminal Court of the Republic of Croatia, USKOK, the Office of the Representative of the Republic of Croatia before the European Court of Human Rights and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs responsible for representing the Republic of Croatia before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

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