LEGAL ASPECT OF ORGANIZATION AND DOMAIN OF WORK OF CROATIAN COAST GUARD WITH A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE COAST GUARD LAW

U Republici Hrvatskoj se početkom 90-ih godina prošlog stoljeća prvi put javila ideja o organizaciji nove pomorsko-upravne službe u vidu Obalne straže. Međutim, trebalo je proći dulje od desetljeća da se prijedlozi o njenom osnivanju konkretiziraju. U listopadu 2007. godine Hrvatski sabor donio je, napokon, Zakon o Obalnoj straži Republike Hrvatske, kojim se utvrđuje njezina organizacija i djelokrug rada kao i njene ovlasti, poslovi i zadaci. Zakon je stupio na snagu 1. studenog 2007. godine. Prema ovom Zakonu, u temeljne poslove i zadaće Obalne straže spadaju zaštita suverenih prava i provedba jurisdikcije Republike Hrvatske u zaštićenom ekološko-ribolovnom pojasu, epikontinentskom pojasu i otvorenom moru, dok će u području unutrašnjih morskih voda i teritorijalnog mora pružati potporu drugim nadležnim tijelima državne uprave u provođenju zakona i drugih propisa iz njihove nadležnosti u skladu s odredbama Zakona. Zakonom o Obalnoj straži propisana je obveza donošenja velikog broja uredbi i pravilnika koji detaljnije reguliraju organizaciju i djelokrug rada Obalne straže, od kojih je, iako u zakašnjenju, veći broj donesen.An idea about establishing new maritime- administrative body in a shape of Coast Guard in the Republic of Croatia was born during the early 90-es of the last century. However, more than a decade has passed since proposals concerning its foundation became concrete. Finally, in October 2007, Croatian Parliament adopted Coast Guard Law which determined organization and domain of work of Croatian Coast Guard, as well as its authority, tasks and assignments. The Law came into force on November, 1 2007. According to this Law, fundamental tasks and assignments of a Coast Guard are protection of sovereign rights and implementation of jurisdiction of the Republic of Croatia in Protected Ecological- Fishing Zone, Continental shelf and High seas, while in Internal sea and Territorial sea Coast Guard gives support to other authorized bodies of government administration in execution of the Law and other regulation under its competence in conformity with this Law. Coast Guard Law prescribes enacting a great number of ordinances and statutes with the purpose of detailed regulation of Coast Guard’s organization and domain of work. Although with delay, majority of those rules are introduced