Right of way - Croatian

[balacleigh]

Dear All,

Could anyone tell me what the position is with "right of way" in Croatian law ? A

fter what period of time travelling over a right of way do the owners lose their right to object ?

Many thanks.

[poiter]

i dont know what exactly you mean by right of way...but it does bring something to mind.
there are traffic lights all over croatia...and usually...when i get the green arrow...i have the right of way...and theres no way that traffic can come from anywhere.
but for some reason there is one traffic light in split, near the ina petrol station at bacvice, where when you get a green arrow...you also have to give way to traffic coming from the left cos they have a green light too.
i had this very angry good looking blonde woman go crazy at me at that intersection...cos i thought i could go , cos i got the green arrow, but not so.
my wife almost had an accident there, and also said how its a weird set of traffic lights.

[crojoe]

Sorry, you'll have to contact a lawyer for that one, although I know if you own the land (if this is the "right of way" your talking about), then there's not much anyone can do to stop you putting a fence up. It's a common situation that someone owning a plot of land in the middle of a field may have no access rights, especially if surrounding plots are owned by other persons. What has to happen is this person must buy passage from someone if he or she wants to have access to their land via vehicle (or maybe even by foot). If a person is making a fuss about "right of way", and you are purchasing a piece of land that borders this land, then stop the sale, or be prepared for a legal court battle. This person can stone wall your building permit for quite some time. Any building proposal must be Oked by all immediate neighbours, and if you have one that has land that will be blocked, chances are he will block your application or at least slow it down.

I know on the coast you can't claim the beach area that one might think they own as part of the property, so people can have access to it.

If you’re talking about right of way such as a walking path through your land, then ask a lawyer. If anything like the UK, not much you can do about it. At least they don't have problems with Irish tinkers squatting your land in their caravans.

[pinkfloyd]

giving legal advice in Croatia without bar exam is criminal act, but anyway..

see this law, under "Članak 224."
www.poslovniforum.hr/zakoni/zakon_o_vlasnistvu_i_drugim.asp

"right of way" is on croatian, "pravo služnosti na nekretnini, nužni prolaz" or something like that in your case.. please be more specific

[crojoe]

I think any advise from a normal Joe wouldn't be held against you in a court of law, or deemed against the law, unless you where pretending to be a lawyer.

[balacleigh]

Thank you all for the helpful responses. The situation is that we have a house for 6 years with a track / roadway to it. There are street lamps and telecoms running up to it and water planned next.

Some locals may be claiming that part of the road is theirs affecting some 8 of us with houses beyond their "claimed" part of the road. We have used the road for 6 - 7 years now and a sign has appeared with some stones on the road (markers if you like).

My question wasn't meant to be one of law interpretation so sorry about that. I wondered if (like other countries) the law provided that if you had used a "right of way" for a certain number of years, then the previous owners lost their right to object to the usage by others.

Many Thanks Again and Kind Regards.

[pinkfloyd]

crojoe, yes but you can "hurt" someone with wrong legal advice, if he takes it as granted..

balacleigh, I'm croatian and I really don't dare translating laws into english, but here's law that probably relates to that case:
www.poslovniforum.hr/zakoni/zakon_o_vlasnistvu_i_drugim.asp

ZAKON O VLASNIŠTVU I DRUGIM STVARNIM PRAVIMA

Odluka o nužnom prolazu

Članak 224.

(1) Nužni prolaz preko neke nekretnine kao poslužne osnovat će svojom odlukom sud na zahtjev vlasnika druge nekretnine, ako do nje nema nikakve ili nema prikladne putne veze s javnim putom i ako je korist od otvaranja nužnoga prolaza za gospodarenje tom nekretninom veća od štete na poslužnoj nekretnini, a uz obvezu vlasnika nekretnine u čiju se korist nužni prolaz osniva da plati punu naknadu vlasniku poslužne nekretnine.

(2) Nužni prolaz ne može sud osnovati preko nekretnina glede kojih se tome protive javni interesi, kroz zgrade, kroz ograđena kućna dvorišta, kroz ograđena uzgajališta divljači; a kroz ograđene vrtove i vinograde može osnovati nužni prolaz samo ako za to postoji osobito jak razlog.

(3) Sud će svojom odlukom kojom osniva nužni prolaz odrediti da se on osniva u korist određene nekretnine kao služnost prava staze, progona stoke, kolnika, ili svega zajedno, vodeći računa o potrebama povlasne nekretnine i o tome da poslužno zemljište bude što manje opterećeno; no nikad ne može osnovati nužni prolaz u korist određene osobe, niti općega dobra.

(4) Sud će svojom odlukom kojom osniva nužni prolaz odrediti obvezu vlasnika nekretnine u čiju se korist osniva taj prolaz da vlasniku poslužne nekretnine plati punu novčanu naknadu za sve što će on trpjeti i biti oštećen, koja ne može biti manja od one na koju bi on imao pravo da se u interesu Republike Hrvatske provodi izvlaštenje, te će osnutak nužnoga prolaza uvjetovati potpunom isplatom te naknade, ako su se stranke glede naknade nisu drukčije sporazumjele.


Način osnivanja služnosti na nekretninama

Članak 220.

(1) Pravo služnosti na nekretnini osniva se uknjižbom toga prava u zemljišnoj knjizi kao tereta na poslužnoj nekretnini, osim ako zakon omogućuje da se služnost osnuje drukčije.


(2) Ako nisu ispunjene sve pretpostavke koje zemljišnoknjižno pravo zahtijeva za uknjižbu, a zatražena je uknjižba prava služnosti, predbilježbom će se osnovati to pravo pod uvjetom naknadnoga opravdanja toga upisa, ako su ispunjene barem pretpostavke pod kojima pravila zemljišnoknjižnoga prava dopuštaju predbilježbu.

(3) Na nekretninama koje nisu upisane u zemljišne knjige pravo služnosti osniva se polaganjem u sud ovjerovljene isprave sposobne za upis prava u zemljišnu knjigu, kojom vlasnik nekretnine dopušta uknjižbu služnosti na njoj; za to polaganje uzima se da je uknjižba, odnosno predbilježba i na odgovarajući se način primjenjuju pravila o stjecanju tim upisom u zemljišnu knjigu.

(4) Odredbe ovoga Zakona o osnivanju prava služnosti na nekretninama upisom u zemljišnu knjigu na odgovarajući se način primjenjuju i na promjene i prestanak služnosti na temelju pravnih poslova.

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[crojoe]

One would have to be pretty stupid if they take legal advice from someone who is not a lawyer. I guess taking legal advice to me would be for pretty important issues such as buying land, a house, long term visa related stuff, TAX problems, opening, closing or maintaining a company in HR. On the other hand offering free advice on how the legal system works, how to apply the law in daily matters, tricks of the trade and such is a different thing.

[Carol]

I think it is 20 years. If you walk over someone's land for 20 years to get to your back door, then you can claim the right to use this path through the courts.

However when it comes to the waterfront, everyone has right away over the 1m from the water's edge along the sea front.

[crojoe]

balacleigh.... looks like a court case is looming, as it will need to be legal, be that it becomes a private road owned by all or city owned. But, if it affects your "right of way", then you need to get it sorted (it will be a problem in the future). I do know that if the land was parcelled off by one seller, then a "right of way" should have been in the plans, as doubt he could have sold the parcels of land legally without it. Although, 6 years ago anything could have been possible. A few years back I was in talks about a plot of land, and this "right of way" road had to be on the blue prints before the land could be sold. But, don't take my advice, get a lawyer who deals with such matters.

[crojoe]

So, as Carol says, it 20 years minus 6 years already, so just keep walking another 14 years and you'll be ok. You could always hire a local to do the walking for you.

[Carol]

The thing is you need proof. Courts are not very good at just taking a persons statement. They are better if you give them evidence. Otherwise one person could say that they ahve walked over it for 20 years, the other person could say that no one walked on ti for 20 years and the court will have to judge who seems more honest.

[crojoe]

Google translation of what pinkfloyd posted on:

Law on Ownership and Other Proprietary Rights

Decision on the necessary transit

Article 224

(1) Required to pass over some of the servient estate shall be established by decision of the court at the request of owners of other property, if it has nothing to do or there is no convenient travel connections with public road and if the benefits of opening the necessary passage for the management of the property greater than the damage to poslužnoj property, the obligation of property owners in whose favor the passage establishes necessary to pay the full fee owner of the servient estate.

(2) Emergency passage can not be found by the court in respect of property which opposed the public interest through the building, through the fenced house yard, the fenced game farms, and through the enclosed gardens and vineyards can establish the necessary passage only if there is particularly strong case .

(3) The Court shall take its decisions, which establishes the necessary passage to determine that he established for the benefit of certain property as a trail easement rights, persecution of livestock, road, or all together, taking into account the needs of povlasne property and that the servient land is less burdened; but can never establish a necessary passage for the benefit of certain people, or the common good.

(4) The Court shall take its decisions, which establishes the necessary passage to determine the obligation of property owners in whose favor the passage establishes that the owner of the servient estate to pay the full fee for all that he would suffer and be damaged, which can not be less than what would he had a right to be in the interests of Croatian implementing expropriation, and the establishment of the necessary conditional pass complete payment of such fees, if the parties in respect of fees not otherwise agreed.

The way of easements on real estate

Article 220

(1) The right of easement over the property that establishes the registration of rights in the land register as a burden on poslužnoj property, unless the law provides that the easement set up differently.


(2) If you have not met all the prerequisites that land rights required for registration, and requested the registration of easements, reservation will be set up to right under the subsequent justification of that enrollment if they fulfilled at least the assumptions under which the rules of land rights allow the book.

(3) For properties that are not registered in land registry law easements shall be established by depositing in court documents certified fit for the registration of rights in the land register, in which a property owner allows the registration of easements on it, taking it to be taken to the registration or subscription and appropriately apply the rules on the acquisition of the property and land registration.

(4) The provisions of this Act establishing the rights of easements on real estate and land registration to appropriately apply the changes and termination of easements on Legal Affairs.