Napomene o shvaćanju suverena u Ustavu Republike Hrvatske
Comments on the Understanding Sovereignity in the Croatian Constitution

Summary/Abstract: This is a critical analysis of the normative stipulations of the 1990 Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and their reformulations regarding certain provisions on sovereignty in the Basic provisions. The author shows that these provisions – which either identify the state and the people as the holders of sovereignty (1990) or envision them as the two subjects of sovereign power – imply a certain concept of the state (the state of power) which was first institutionalized in the 15th century and later evolved into a state of law. Taking the Western experience as the criterion for assessing Croatian constitutional changes, the author claims that the 1990 Constitution focused on resolving the issues that Europe tackled as far back as 15th century (legal peace and personal security), while the later additions focused on the problems that Europe dealt with between the 17th century and the 19th century (the division of power, parliamentarism). The third and the fourth phase in the development of the modern state, democracy and welfare state, are not on the Croatian agenda yet. The author concludes that in its fundamental provisions and values (which have remained unchanged), the Constitution does not offer a conceptually adequate normative framework for establishing a democratic polity.

• Details
• Contents