The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia as a ‘European’ Court and the Preservation of National Standards of Fundamental Rights Protection

Autorica analizira fenomen nacionalnih sudova kao “europskih” prvostupanjskih sudova i njime kreiran sustav dvostruke lojalnosti prema europskom i prema nacionalnom ustavnom poretku. U odnosu na problem zaštite viših nacionalnih standarda temeljnih ljudskih prava i sloboda te nacionalnog ustavnog identiteta razmatra proceduralne načine pomirenja Simmenthal doktrine Suda pravde Europske unije i čl. 37. Ustavnog zakona o Ustavnom sudu Republike Hrvatske. Osim snažne sudačke lojalnosti Ustavu identificira mehanizam dvostruke preliminarnosti kao kompromisno rješenje unutar nacionalne proceduralne autonomije koje bi paralelno koristilo mogućnost interlokutorne kontrole Ustavnog suda i provođenja prethodnog postupka pred Europskim sudom. In ultima linea naglašava supremaciju nacionalnog ustava i njegova ustavnog identiteta, koji u svim slučajevima nepomirljivosti europskih i nacionalnih stajališta, unatoč duhu lojalne suradnje i otvorenosti europskom pravu, mora prevladati. S obzirom na to, Ustavni sud Republike Hrvatske mora ojačati doktrinu ustavnog identiteta i izrijekom preuzeti odgovornost nadzora nad ustavnosti europskog prava u odnosu na njega.The author analyzes the phenomenon of national courts’ function as European courts of first instance, and the system of dual loyalty toward the European and the national constitutional orders that it creates. With regard to a potentially higher constitutional level of protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms, as well as to Croatian constitutional identity, the author weighs the procedural avenues available for reconciling the EU Court’s Simmenthal mandate and Art. 37 of the Constitutional Act on the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia. Besides a fierce judicial loyalty to the Constitution, the author considers the dual preliminarity mechanism to be a viable compromise well within the national procedural autonomy, simultaneously triggering the interlocutory and preliminary ruling procedures before the Croatian Constitutional Court and the European Court (respectively). She stresses the ultimate supremacy of a national constitution and its identity, which must be allowed to prevail in all cases of irreconcilable differences between the European and the national viewpoints, the spirit of loyal cooperation and openness to European law notwithstanding. In that sense, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia must strengthen its constitutional identity doctrine, and assume a clear responsibility for constitutional review of European law against this benchmark