Legal regime of maritime property in the light of the new Law on maritime property and sea ports

Cilj ovog rada je provesti čitatelja kroz postupak donošenja novog Zakona o pomorskom dobru i morskim lukama koji je donesen na saborskoj sjednici 14. srpnja i stupio na snagu 29. srpnja 2023. godine. Rad predstavlja osvrt na najvažnije promjene u odnosu na prethodno važeći Zakon te kako su se kroz postupak mijenjali stavovi javnosti i zakonodavca do konačnog teksta. Neusklađenost s drugim zakonima, konkretno sa Zakonom o koncesijama iz 2017., problemi nezakonite gradnje i nasipavanja pomorskog dobra te zastarjelost odredaba rezultirali su potrebom donošenja novog pravnog okvira za ovu materiju čiji je značaj teško podcijeniti s obzirom na veličinu površine RH koja potpada pod pravni režim pomorskog dobra i važnost turizma za domaće gospodarstvo. Posebna pažnja posvećena je dijelu koji uređuje koncesije jer je zakonodavac izričito naglasio kako se novim Zakonom želi osigurati bolja isplativost koncesionarima za njihova ulaganja te maksimalno iskoristiti prirodne resurse uz garanciju da se pomorsko dobro ni u kojem slučaju ne smije isključiti od opće upotrebe. Također su obrađene teme uvođenja koncesijskih dozvola, nezakonite gradnje te nasipavanja na pomorskom dobru.Main goal of this paper is to guide the reader through the procedure of enactment of the new Law on Maritime Property and Sea Ports which is finalized on the parliamentery session on the 14th of July and entered into force on 29th of July 2023. The paper represents review of the most important changes compared to the previous Law and stance changes of the public as well as the parliament. Incompatibility with other regulations, specifically Law on Concessions from 2017, problems of illegal construction and embankments of the maritime property as well as obsolescence of provisions culminated in need of new regulation on this matter whose significance is hard to overestimate considering the magnitude of Croatian territory that belongs in the defition of maritime property and importance of tourism for national economy. Particular attention is dedicated to the parts regulating concessions since the legislator expressed wanting the new Law to ensure better profitability to the concessionaires for their investment and also utilize natural resources to the maximum capacity along with warrant that maritime property would not be, in any case, excluded from the general use. Matters of concessionary permissions, illegal construction and embankments are also processed in the paper