“In accordance with articles 93 of the Constitution and 10 of the Law the Ombudsman is appointed by the Croatian parliament from amongst two (2) candidates proposed by the Committee for the Constitution, Standing Orders and Political System, with the prior opinion of the Committee for Human Rights and Rights of National Minorities.

The ORC reports that while hearings are held during the selection process and these hearings are open to the public, only members of parliament are able to participate directly in this process.

With respect to the involvement of civil society in the parliamentary process for selecting the Ombudsman, the SCA is of the view that this involvement should be direct rather than through members of parliament. This could be achieved, for example by:

The SCA encourages the ORC to advocate for amendments to the selection process to better promote broad consultation and the participation of civil society in the selection process.”