In the Eyes of the Press: The Croatian Judiciary in the Period of Pseudo-Constitutionalism (1849-1851)

In the 19th century, newspapers were the major public media in Croatia and the leading media for informing the public and disseminating new ideas aimed at a comprehensive modernization of Croatian society. During the revolutionary year 1848, Croatian newspapers discarded their former political pallidness that was conditioned by censorship. In conditions of (a short-lived) freedom of the press, they expanded the range of topics they covered and, in addition to news and of? cial information, they began to cover various political, social, cultural and economic topics thus becoming a platform for spreading modern, mostly liberal ideas. Based on an analysis of newspaper articles published in the liberally oriented Zagreb press, the present paper follows the course of the reform of the judiciary in the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia in the period of pseudo-constitutionalism (1849-1851). This paper especially attempts to determine the Croatian public's position on the need for judiciary reform, reform itself and the difficulties accompanying its implementation. A signi? cant number of newspaper articles pertained to the activities of the judge as a major factor in the judicial system.