ZAGREB, March 1, 2018 – The recommendations prepared by the council for dealing with the consequences of undemocratic regimes on how to treat insignia of totalitarian regimes has elicited different opinions among law professors.
Sanja Barić, a professor specialised in Constitutional Law at Rijeka Law School, writes on her Facebook profile that all who would like to comment on the 44-page document should carefully read it before expressing their opinion on the matter. She praised the document as a highly-quality document with quality content and wording as well as context.
Concerning the suggestion that the salute “For the Homeland Ready” could be allowed in some exceptions, Barić said that this unusual solution which can be described as “official tolerance of unconstitutional practice otherwise” is permitted by the Constitution and laws, due to “extremely restricted and very clearly defined reach.”
She warns that first media reports about the council’s recommendations failed to carry some important remarks from the document. The documents highlights the need for a broad education of the public in connection with being acquainted with the Constitution and its basic postulates, according to Barić. Each page and each sentence (of the document) carries weight, she writes.
Professor Branko Smerdel of the Law School in Zagreb views the document as the product of compromise and therefore it can be interpreted either way. He criticises the document for what he sees as failure to solve anything.
