Croatia: Legal Opinion on the Law on the Election of the President of the Republic of Croatia, on the Croatian Parliamentary Elections Law and on the Law on the Election of Members from the Republic of Croatia to the European Parliament

By letter of 11 March 2025, Ms. Vesna Fabijančić-Križanić, Vice-President of the State Electoral Commission (SEC) of the Republic of Croatia, submitted a request to the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to conduct a legal assessment “of certain parts of Croatian electoral legislation for its compliance with international standards and obligations for democratic elections, as well as with ODIHR’s electoral recommendations in the Republic of Croatia.” On 1 September 2025 ODIHR responded to this request, confirming the Office’s readiness to prepare a legal opinion on the submitted proposed amendments to assess their compliance with international human rights standards and OSCE human dimension commitments. Subsequently, following the completion of the local elections, ODIHR conducted a consultative visit to Zagreb on 26 September to hold consultations with the SEC on the proposed topics of the review.

The ODIHR Final Report on 2020 Parliamentary Elections noted that “the majority of prior ODIHR recommendations, including those related to harmonization and consolidation of election legislation, remain unaddressed.”1 In this Legal Opinion, ODIHR reiterates some of the previous recommendations and offers additional ones, to support the efforts of the SEC to improve election-related legislation and align it more closely with OSCE commitments.2 At the same time, it is essential to underscore that legislative amendments alone are not sufficient; effective, consistent, and impartial implementation of the law is equally necessary to ensure elections are conducted in accordance with international standards.