Article 17

During a state of war or an immediate threat to the independence and unity of the State, or in the event of severe natural disasters, individual freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Constitution may be restricted. This shall be decided by the Croatian Parliament by a two-thirds majority of all members or, if the Croatian Parliament is unable to meet, at the proposal of the Government and upon the counter-signature of the Prime Minister, by the President of the Republic.

The extend of such restrictions shall be adequate to the nature of the danger, and may not result in the inequality of persons in respect of race, color, gender, language, religion, national or social origin.

Not even in the case of an immediate threat to the existence of the State may restrictions be imposed on the application of the provisions of this Constitution concerning the right to life, prohibition of torture, cruel or degrading treatment or punishment, on the legal definitions of penal offenses and punishments, or on freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

 

Article 77

The Croatian Parliament may be dissolved in order to call early elections if so decided by the majority of all the members.

The President of the Republic may, in conformity with Article 103, dissolve the Croatian Parliament.

Article 78

The Croatian Parliament shall be in regular session twice a year: the first period between January 15 and July 15, and the second period between September 15 and December 15.

The Croatian Parliament shall convene emergency sessions at the request of the President of the Republic, the Government or the majority of its members.

The President of the Croatian Parliament may, upon prior consultation with the parliamentary clubs of members of the parliamentary parties, call it into an emergency session.

Article 86

The Croatian Parliament may call a referendum on a proposal for the amendment of the Constitution, on a bill, or any other issue within its competence.

The President of the Republic may, at the proposal of the Government and with the counter-signature of the Prime Minster, call a referendum on a proposal for the amendment of the Constitution or any other issue which he considers to be important for the independence, unity and existence of the Republic of Croatia.

The Croatian Parliament shall call a referendum upon the issues from sections 1 and 2 of this Article when so demanded by ten percent of all voters in the Republic of Croatia.

At such a referendum, the decision shall be made by the majority of  the voters who have voted, provided that the majority of the total number of electors have taken part in the referendum.

Decisions made at referenda shall be binding.

A law on referenda shall be passed.

Article 88

Laws shall be promulgated by the President of the Republic within eight days from the date when they were passed in the Croatian Parliament.

If the President of the Republic considers the promulgated law not in accordance with the Constitution, he may initiate proceedings to review the constitutionality of the law before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia.

Article 93

The President of the Republic of Croatia shall represent and stand for the Republic of Croatia at home and abroad. The President of the Republic shall take care of regular and harmonized functioning and stability of the state government. The President of the Republic is responsible for the defense of independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Croatia.

Article 94

The President of the Republic shall be elected in direct elections by secret ballot, on the basis of universal and equal suffrage, for a term of five years. No one shall be elected the President of the Republic more than twice. The President of the Republic shall be elected by a majority of vote of all electors who have voted. If none of the candidates has obtained such a majority, new elections shall be held after 14 days. The two candidates who obtained the largest number of votes in the first election shall have the right to stand at the new election. If one of these candidates withdraws, the candidate who is next in the number of votes obtained shall acquire the right to stand for the new election. Elections for the President of the Republic shall be held no less than 30 and no more than 60 days before the expiry of the term of office of the incumbent President. Before assuming duty, the President of the Republic shall take a solemn oath before the President of the Constitutional Court swearing loyalty to the Constitution. The election of the President of the Republic, the oath and its taking shall be regulated by law.

Article 95

The President of the Republic shall not perform any other public or professional duty. After the election, the President of the Republic shall resign form membership in the political party and notify the Croatian Parliament thereof.

Article 96

In case when the President of the Republic is temporarily prevented from performing his duties, because of his absence or illness or yearly leave of absence, the President of the Republic may confide the President of the Croatian Parliament to substitute for him. The President of the Republic decides upon his return to duty. In case the President of the Republic is prevented from performing his duties for a longer period of time, because of illness or inability, and particularly if he is unable to decide on confiding his duties to a temporary substitute, the President of the Croatian Parliament shall assume the duty of the temporary President of the Republic upon the decision of the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court shall decide thereof upon the proposal of the Government. In case of death, or resignation which shall be submitted to the President of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia and the President of the of the Croatian Parliament notified thereof, or when the Constitutional Court determines the reasons for termination of the mandate of the President of the Republic, the duty of the temporary President of the Republic shall be taken over by the President of the Croatian Parliament by force of the Constitution. When the President of the Croatian Parliament as temporary President of the Republic issues an act on promulgation of the law, the act shall be counter-signed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia. Elections for the new President of the Republic shall be held within the term of 60 days from the day the temporary President of the Republic has taken over the duty according to section 3 of this Article.

Article 97

The President of the Republic shall: - call elections for the Croatian Parliament and convene their first session; - call referenda, in conformity with the Constitution; - confide the mandate to form the Government to the person who, upon the distribution of the seats in the Croatian Parliament and consultations held, enjoys confidence of the majority of its members; - grant pardons; - confer decorations and other awards specified by law; - perform other duties specified by the Constitution.

Article 98

The President of the Republic and the Government of the Republic of Croatia cooperate in formulation and execution of the foreign policy. The President of the Republic shall, at the Government's proposal and with the counter-signature of the Prime Minister, decide on the establishment of diplomatic missions and consular offices of the Republic of Croatia abroad. The President of the Republic shall, with the prior counter-signature of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, appoint and recall diplomatic representatives of the Republic of Croatia, at the proposal the Government and upon the opinion of the authorized committee of the Croatian Parliament. The President of the Republic shall receive letters of credence and the letters of recall from foreign diplomatic representatives.

Article 99

The President of the Republic is the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Republic of Croatia. The President of the Republic shall appoint and relieve of duty military commanders, in conformity with law. On the basis of the decision of the Croatian Parliament, the President of the Republic may declare war and conclude peace. In case of an immediate threat to the independence, unity and existence of the State, the President of the Republic may, with the counter signature of the Prime Minister, order the employment of the armed forces even if the state of war has not been declared.

Article 100

During the state of war the President of the Republic may issue decrees with the force of law on the grounds and within the authority obtained from the Croatian Parliament. If the Croatian Parliament is not in session, the President of the Republic is authorized to regulate all the issues required by the state of war by decrees with the force of law. In case of an immediate threat to the independence, unity and existence of the State, or if the governmental bodies are prevented from performing their constitutional duties regularly, the President of the Republic shall, at the proposal of the Prime Minister and with his counter-signature, issue decrees with the force of law. The President of the Republic shall submit decrees with the force of law for approval to the Croatian Parliament as soon as the Parliament is in a position to convene. If the President of the Republic does not submit a decree for approval to the Croatian Parliament as required by section 3 of this Article, or if the Croatian Parliament fails to approve it, the decree with the force of law ceases to be in force. In the case stated in sections 1 and 2 of this Article the President of the Republic may call a session of the Government and preside over such a session.

Article 101

The President of the Republic may propose to the Government to hold a session and consider certain issues. The President of the Republic may be present at the meeting of the Government and take part in deliberations.

Article 102

The President of the Republic and the Government of the Republic of Croatia shall, in accordance with the Constitution and law, cooperate in directing the operations of the security services. The appointment of the heads of the security services shall, upon a prior opinion of the authorized committee of the Croatian Parliament, be counter-signed by the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia.

Article 103

The President of the Republic, at the proposal of the Government and with the counter-signature of the Prime Minister, after consultations with the representatives of the clubs of parliamentary parties, dissolve the Croatian Parliament if, at the proposal of the Government, the Parliament has passed a vote of no confidence to the Government, or if it has failed to approve the state budget within 120 days from the date when it was proposed. The President of the Republic may not, at the proposal of the Government, dissolve the Croatian Parliament if the impeachment proceedings against him for violation of the Constitution have been instituted.

Article 104

The President of the Republic shall be impeachable for any violation of the Constitution he has committed in the performance of his duties. Proceedings for the impeachment of the President of the Republic may be instituted by the Croatian Parliament by a two-thirds majority vote of all representatives. The impeachment of the President of the Republic shall be decided upon by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia by a two-thirds majority vote of all the judges. The Constitutional Court shall decide upon the impeachment of the President of the Republic during the term of 30 days form the day of the submission of the proposal to impeach the President of the Republic for violation of the Constitution. If the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia sustains the impeachment, the duty of the President of the Republic shall cease by force of the Constitution.

Article 105

The President of the Republic shall enjoy immunity. The President of the Republic may not be detained nor criminal proceedings may be instituted against him without prior consent of the Constitutional Court. The President of the Republic may be detained without prior consent of the Constitutional Court only if he has been caught in the act of committing a criminal offence which carries a penalty of imprisonment of more than five years. In such a case the state body which has detained the President of the Republic shall instantly notify the President of the Constitutional Court thereof.

Article 106

In the performance of his duties the President of the Republic shall be assisted by advisory bodies. The members of these bodies shall be appointed and relieved by the President of the Republic. Appointments contrary to the principle of separation of powers shall not be permitted. Advisory, expert and other tasks shall be performed by the Office of the President of the Republic. The organization and competence of the Office shall be regulated by law and internal rules.