CONSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE REFERENDUM IN CROATIA

ONE STEP FORWARD, MANY STEPS BACK

Abstract

A citizens’ initiative referendum was constitutionalized in Croatia with the second Revision of
the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, which took place at the end of 2000. In principle, it
was an extraordinary democratic step forward in the context of Article 1(3) of the Constitution,
according to which the people exercise the power through the election of representatives and
direct decision-making. However, the acceptance of this instrument of direct democracy in such
a broad form that is practically unknown to developed democracies was not taken into account
with due caution. All scholarly warnings about the possible misuse and the need for comparative
analyses have been ignored. Also, with another Revision of the Constitution, which took place in
2010, the original procedural limit (i.e., the turnout of 50% of the electorate) was removed, and
from then on, any decision on the referendum is legally binding if voted by a majority of those
who voted. In the same year, the first popular initiative was instituted. Although the only
successful popular initiative was introduced in 2013 (and it resulted in the Revision of the
Constitution), the fact is that the current referendum regulation in Croatia generally does not
fulfill its purpose. Besides, the history of the citizens’ initiatives in Croatia shows that inadequate
regulation of a referendum can lead the country to the verge of a political and constitutional
crisis. In this context, this paper aims to identify numerous problems in Croatian law on the
referendum and propose solutions for its improvement.