摘要：Among the numerous problems in the Croatian law of referendum brought to the forefront by the popular-referendum initiative named “In the name of the family” of mid-2013, the author focuses on its potential to define the so-called “constitutional identity” of the Republic of Croatia and the pertinent jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court to annul constitutional amendments considered to be violative of that identity (i.e. of the sacrosanct substantive limitations of constitutional revision). The author considers the would-be Constitutional Court’s decision on the constitutionality of said initiative to be a perfect opportunity to define “eternal” clauses of the Croatian Constitution, for the reason that the issues of constitutionality of the popularly initiated referenda cannot be viewed separately from the general issue of the constitutionality review of constitutional amendments – whether they be adopted through a referendum (regardless of the identity of its initiators), or by a decision of the Croatian Parliament. The author further analyses the means of introducing substantive boundaries to amending the constitution into a constitutional document, whether the Croatian Constitution already clearly denotes the components of national “constitutional identity”, and whether this identity is binding only in a constitutionally-regulated amendment procedure, or even in the process of adopting an entirely new constitution.
关键词：Constitution of the Republic of Croatia; constitutional referendum; constitutional identity; eternity clause; systemic interpretation
