Osobitosti prestanka i stjecanja prava vlasništva na podrtinama i potonulim stvarima
The particularities of the acquisition and forfeiture of ownership over wrecks and sunken objects

Summary/Abstract: Wrecks and sunken objects that are abandoned, or lost, or whose owner is unknown, or the owner does not intend to recover them, are subject to a special regime of property law. The Croatian Maritime Code serves as a legal basis for acquiring ownership over wrecks and sunken objects in cases not provided for by general property law. These are: the law of finds applying to wrecks and sunken objects, and the acquisition of ownership by the Republic of Croatia over wrecks and sunken objects that were not recovered by their owners within a period of two years from the time of their sinking or stranding. There are additional particularities in respect of wrecks and sunken objects of cultural importance. These are subject to special protection under the legislation on the protection of cultural goods.The authors analyze the special regime of property law applying to the acquisition and forfeiture of ownership over wrecks and sunken objects, including the relationship between the special rules applying to wrecks and sunken objects contained in the Croatian Maritime Code and the general rules of property law. This paper provides for an extensive commentary of the respective legal provisions introduced by the amended version of the Croatian Maritime Code of 2013, giving guidelines for their interpretation in practice. The new regime of property law for wrecks and sunken objects is assessed as a very useful and important innovation in Croatian maritime law.

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