On Monday, September 9, 2024, the conference titled “Croatian Judiciary after the Hann-Invest Ruling” was held at the House of Europe. The event was organized by the Jean Monnet Module for EU Constitutional Law and Methodology at the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, in cooperation with the European Commission Representation in Croatia.
The conference centered on the Court of Justice of the European Union’s ruling in the consolidated cases C-554/21, C-622/21, and C-727/21 Hann-Invest, issued on July 11, 2024. The ruling declared that Croatia’s mechanism for standardizing judicial practice—through evidentiary judges and binding legal opinions of judicial department sessions—contradicts European Union law.
The event gathered key stakeholders from Croatia’s judiciary, with a strong turnout from representatives of both appellate and lower courts.
Following the opening remarks by the conference organizers and co-organizers—Associate Professor Nika Bačić Selanec, head of the Jean Monnet Module for EU Constitutional Law and Methodology; Professor Elizabeta Ivićevic Karas, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb; and Andreja Čović Vidović, Deputy Head of the European Commission Representation in Croatia—the audience was addressed by prominent figures including Damir Habijan, Minister of Justice, Administration, and Digital Transformation; Radovan Dobronić, President of the Supreme Court; and Dragan Katić, Head of the Judicial Practice Monitoring and Documentation Service and a Supreme Court Justice.
Two expert panels featured contributions from Siniša Rodin, Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union; Constitutional Court Judges Andrej Abramović and Lovorka Kušan; Jelena Čuveljak, Judge at the High Commercial Court; Ivan Crnčec, State Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, Administration, and Digital Transformation; and Petra Komadina, representative from the Court of Justice of the European Union’s Research and Documentation Directorate. Professors Alan Uzelac and Marko Bratković from the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, also took part, with Nika Bačić Selanec and Davor Petrić serving as panel moderators.
The panels explored the background, content, and implications of the Hann-Invest ruling, as well as anticipated legislative and judicial practice changes necessary to align Croatia’s legal framework with the standards set by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Through constructive dialogue among all judicial system stakeholders, the conference established a solid foundation for further analysis and contemplation of reforms. These discussions aim to improve the current system for standardizing judicial practice, enhancing public trust in Croatia’s judiciary. At the same time, the discussions reinforced the importance of maintaining the Supreme Court’s constitutional mandate to ensure uniform application of the law, while safeguarding the procedural rights of individuals and their access to effective legal protection before Croatian courts — core principles of the European Union’s legal order.
