Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities in the Republic of Croatia

The Constitutional Act on the Rights of National Minorities in the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Ustavni zakon o pravima nacionalnih manjina) is a constitutional law that defines and guarantees the rights of national minorities within the Republic of Croatia. It is one of three Constitutional Acts in the Croatian legal framework, the others being the Constitutional Act on the Implementation of the Constitution of Croatia and the Constitutional Act on the Constitutional Court of Croatia. The current version of the Act was enacted on 23 December 2002, following amendments to its predecessor, the Constitutional Act on National and Ethnic Communities or Minorities, originally adopted in December 1991.

The adoption of the 1991 Act was a significant step in Croatia’s transition to independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, responding to explicit preconditions set by the international community for the recognition of Croatian independence. This Act holds a higher legal authority than ordinary laws and regulations and requires compliance from all lower levels of government, ensuring the uniform protection of minority rights across the country.

In addition to this Constitutional Act, two specific laws were enacted to further elaborate on minority rights: the Law on Use of Languages and Scripts of National Minorities and the Law on Education in the Language and Script of National Minorities. These laws specifically address minority language rights in public life and education. Furthermore, the Constitution of Croatia itself includes provisions for the protection of national minorities, explicitly recognizing and enumerating Croatia’s traditional minority communities.