Legal nature of the maritime domain

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Written by Branko Kundih

The coast of the Republic of Croatia is 5835 km long, including the mainland and islands' coastline.

The inner sea waters and territorial sea extend on a surface amounting to 31.067 m2 which, together with 1185 islands, rocks and reefs, represents an invaluable national treasure.

In Roman law, emperor Justinian's "Institutionis" state that the air (aer), the running waters (aqua profluens), the sea (mare), the sea coast (litus maris) cannot be a matter of private property, but are to be used by the community - "res communes omnium".

The Austrian Civil Law (OGZ) from 1811 states that ports and sea coast are part of the common and public property given only to the use of citizens.

The Croatian legislation defines the "maritime domain" as public property, which extends to one part of the state territory on the mainland, to the inner sea water and territorial sea, as well as to the corresponding seabed and subsoil, and has specific legal, functional and economic characteristics.

In legal continuity, since the establishment of the Land Registry in Croatia, there is no consistency in the registration of neither the maritime public property before, nor the public maritime domain today.

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