The Maritime Code of The Republic of Croatia and the Law of the Sea

Pomorski zakonik Republike Hrvatske, kako onaj prvi iz 1994. godine, tako i njegova nova verzija iz 2004., uređuje pravni poredak uz hrvatske obale Jadrana, ali i pravne odnose brodova pod našom zastavom izvan prostora nad kojima Hrvatska ima suverenost, suverena prava i jurisdikciju, te cjelokupnu materiju pomorsku prava. U radu se isključivo obrađuju pitanja međunarodnog prava mora, usporedbom pravila Zakonika o međunarodnopravnim režimima uz naše obale s Konvencijom Ujedinjenih naroda o pravu mora (1982.). Pri tome se posebna pažnja posvećuje režimu vanjskog pojasa, koji Hrvatska iz nepoznatih razloga nije proglasila, kao i režimu isključivog gospodarskog pojasa. Taj pojas Hrvatska nije uspostavila s punim njegovima sadržajem, što izaziva kritike hrvatske javnosti kao i odgađanje primjene toga novog režima s obzirom na države članice Europske unije. Međutim, i na takav “okrnjeni” gospodarski pojas neopravdano prosvjeduju dvije nama susjedne zemlje, članice Europske unije. Njihovo se uzrujavanje intenzivira zbog činjenice da je Hrvatske odlučila od 1. siječnja 2008. pravila o tome pojasu početi primjenjivati i na države članice Europske unije.The Maritime Code of the Republic of Croatia, both its first version of 1994 and the revised edition of 2004, regulates the legal regimes of the Croatian Adriatic coast. Moreover, its rules deal with the legal relations of the ships flying the Croatian flag outside the areas under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the Republic of Croatia, as well as all the subjects of maritime law. This voluminous and complex Code commences with the relevant norms of the law of the sea regulating the legal regimes along the Croatian coast: internal waters, territorial sea, continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone. For unknown reasons, the contiguous zone has not been mentioned. Notwithstanding Chapter IV of the Code containing the rules on the economic zone, this regime has not been established on the basis of the Code itself. Namely, in its final clauses (Art. 1042), it is stated that the Croatian Parliament will decide when to proclaim the economic zone of Croatia. After many years of debates at various levels, on 3 October 2003 the Croatian Parliament adopted the Decision on the Extension of the Jurisdiction of the Republic of Croatia in the Adriatic Sea. However, the Decision did not proclaim the entire contents of the international regime of the exclusive economic zone, but only part of its contents as elaborated in Part V of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. By guaranteeing the rights of all states in accordance with the Convention, the Croatian Parliament proclaimed “the content of the exclusive economic zone related to the sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the living resources beyond the outer limits of the territorial sea, as well as the jurisdiction with regard to marine scientific research and the protection and preservation of the marine environment, whereby the ecological and fisheries protection zone of the Republic of Croatia is established as of today”. This text deserves two main comments: first, to the contents of the sovereign rights and jurisdiction expressly proclaimed by the 2003 Decision, the rights Croatia exercises over its continental shelf, which at the same time is the seabed and subsoil of the newly proclaimed ecological and fisheries protection zone, are automatically added. Second, the implementation of the new legal regime, proclaimed in October 2003, had to commence a year later, i.e. on 2 October 2004. In accordance with this provision, the 2003 Decision became effective in October 2004 in respect of all states, except the Member States of the European Union. Due to the negative reactions from Italy and Slovenia, the Croatian Parliament decided in 2004 to postpone the application of the 2003 Decision in respect of the Member States of the European Union, until the conclusion of an agreement concerning partnership in fisheries between the European Community and the Republic of Croatia. Notwithstanding this exception, neither the European Union nor its two Adriatic members have demonstrated a clear desire to resolve the problems of fisheries and other problems related to the Adriatic Sea with Croatia. Therefore, on 15 December 2006 the Croatian Parliament decided – notwithstanding the willingness of Croatia to continue cooperation in respect of all problems of the Adriatic with the European Union – to commence the application of the 2003 Decision establishing its ecological and fisheries protection zone to ships flying the flags of the Member States of the European Community on 1 January 2008 at the latest