OSCE/ODIHR Review of Law on Elections of Representatives to the Croatian Parliament

These comments on the legal framework of elections in Croatia are primarily based on the Law on Elections of Representatives to the Croatian Parliament (the 2003 Election Law), adopted in April 2003, by amendments to the former parliamentary election law from 1999. The amendments were necessitated in large part by the constitutional changes in Croatia in 2001, which included the dissolution of the upper chamber (the House of Counties) of the former State Parliament, as well as the enactment of the Constitutional Law on National Minorities. However, the amendments also addressed other issues, including those, which arose during the previous elections to the former House of Representatives (now Parliament), which were held under the 1999 Election Law. These issues included some raised by the OSCE/ODIHR as a result of its observations of the 2000 election.