FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY

Freedom of assembly, the right to hold public gatherings, including political rallies and mass public protests, is an internationally protected right and is integral to the holding of free and fair elections.50 Croatia's record on guaranteeing the right of freedom of assembly is at best mixed, and serves to underscore the importance of Croatia's constitution and the role of the Constitutional Court in upholding it. The previous Law on Public Assembly gave discretion to municipal and county councils to determine where public gatherings can be held. In the case of Zagreb, this allowed the city authorities to prohibit a large protest organized by trade unions and opposition parties in 1998 from taking place in the main square in Zagreb. Bans of rallies by right-wing political parties in several towns in formerly-occupied parts of Croatia and in the capital, Zagreb, led to a challenge to the law in the Constitutional Court in March and April 1999. The court ruled that the constitution did not grant local authorities the discretion to "regulate issues relating to the constitutional rights and freedoms of citizens, therefore, neither to pass regulations concerning the right to public assembly and peaceful protest."51 By its decision, the court also annulled the relevant provision of the Law on Public Assembly.

A new Law on Public Assembly includes a list that indicates one location in each town where a public gathering can be held without permission from local authorities. However, in the case of Zagreb, the city council had already designated several locations where public gatherings could be held without permission. (None are locations close to the center of the town, where people naturally congregate). In practice, therefore, the new law is not a significant improvement, especially in the case of Zagreb. The law also appears to be unconstitutional because the constitution, and the Constitutional Court's March 1999 ruling, state clearly that it cannot be left to the discretion of local authorities to determine where public gatherings can be held. Instead, this must be specified by the law. According to the new law, gatherings cannot take place near locations such as hospitals, schools, national parks, and highways. It is left to local authorities to interpret whether a proposed demonstration is close to one of those locations.