Svjetionici - pravni status i upravljanje de lege lata i de lege ferenda
Lighthouses – legal status and management de lege lata and de lege ferenda

Summary/Abstract: Situated along the Croatian coastline, in the area outside the ports, there are 50 lighthouses which, in accordance with the provisions of the Maritime Code and the Plovput Act, are managed by the company Plovput d.o.o. According to the current legislation, the legal status of lighthouses is in doubt, which in practice makes it difficult to properly manage these valuable facilities of importance for the safety of navigation in the Adriatic. The Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure has formed a working group to draft a proposal for amendments to the Plovput Act. One of the objectivesof amending the Act (or passing a new one) is to ensure better management of lighthouses, given their importance for the safety of navigation, but also for their traditional and cultural values. The prerequisite for achieving this goal is the clear regulation of the legal status of lighthouses.This paper provides an overview of the existing legal framework which could apply to lighthouses, and highlights the divergent practice among the State Attorney’s Office, the courts and the Maritime Property Boundary Commission regarding their legal status. It seeks to offer proposals for possible solutions to regulate the legal status, to determine the lighthouse area and registration in the cadastre and land registers and to give guidelines for drafting a legal framework for the management of lighthouses. Additionally, given that Plovput d.o.o. has concluded contracts for the restoration and lease, or contracts for lease, of 17 lighthouses, a model is proposed to regulate the rights and obligations arising from such contracts.Finally, the issue is raised of the suitability of the new or amended Plovput Act for regulating these questions.

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