In a recent session, the Constitutional Court ruled that the decision of the Zagreb city government to gradually abolish the parent-educator demographic measure is not unconstitutional. This ruling was announced by Jutarnji list and will be commented on by Danijela Dolenec, deputy mayor of Zagreb.

The association representing families, led by Željka Markić, along with the Croatian Association of Parents and Teachers, had requested an assessment of the constitutionality of the decision to reduce the monthly allowance for parents and educators and the age up to which they can receive it. This decision was made in September of last year by former mayor Milan Bandić.

The High Administrative Court had previously declared this city decision legal on February 27, citing that allowing for a longer period of adjustment to the new decision was in line with constitutional principles. However, after Tomislav Tomašević and his team revised their initial decision to abolish the measure immediately after taking power, this ruling was challenged by the association.

The measure introduced by Bandić allowed for benefits to be received until the child’s 15th year of age. Tomašević’s team shortened this to just seven years old and reduced the benefit from 5,000 to 1,000 kunas net per month before further reducing it down to minimum wage until beneficiaries were out of the measure entirely. The High Administrative Court ruled that everything is now in order after compensatory measures were introduced.

This ruling came as a relief for many families who were concerned about losing financial support for their children. It also sends a message that decisions made by local governments must be carefully considered and subjected to proper legal review before being implemented.