The Rules of Procedure of the Croatian Parliament stipulate that laws are adopted in a fast-tracking (urgent) procedure only exceptionally, when there are justified reasons for doing so, and that in such cases the proposal of a law must be properly justified and the urgency of the procedure explained.
However, the fast-track legislative procedure was often used in the Croatian Parliament in 2024. Of the 102 laws adopted during 2024, 33 laws (32 percent) were adopted in an urgent procedure, and 69 laws (68 percent) in an ordinary procedure.
These figures show a higher frequency of the fast-track legislative procedure in 2024 compared to 2023, when the Croatian Parliament adopted a total of 129 laws, of which 34 laws (26 percent) were adopted in an urgent procedure, and 95 laws (74 percent) in an ordinary procedure.
One in every three laws is urgent
Comparing the state of urgency of the legislative procedure in the 11th term of the Croatian Parliament (constituted on 16 May 2024) with the state of urgency of the 10th term (constituted on 22 July 2020 and dissolved on 14 March 2024), we can also see an increase in the share of laws passed under the fast-track procedure.
Of the total of 59 laws passed in the 11th term, 25 laws were passed under the fast-track procedure (42 percent), while 34 laws were passed under the regular procedure (58 percent). In the 10th term, however, out of a total of 500 laws, the Croatian Parliament passed 182 laws under the fast-track procedure (36 percent), and 318 laws were passed under the regular procedure (64 percent).
These statistics show that in the Croatian Parliament, one in every three laws, is passed under the urgent procedure.
Simple majority is enough
Gong's analysis published in March 2024 showed that the situation in the 10th term of the Croatian Parliament by that time was similar - more than one third of all laws (182 out of 312) had been adopted under the fast-track procedure.
In its analysis Gong noted that this situation is facilitated, among other things, by the fact that in the Croatian Parliament, a simple majority is sufficient to approve the adoption of laws under the fast-track procedure, and not a two-thirds majority, as is the case in the parliaments of some older EU member states. In the same analysis, Gong warned that excessive use of the expedited legislative procedure devalues democratic procedures and narrows the space for public debate on important social issues.