According to the Law on Ownership and Other Real Rights (OG 91/96, 68/98, 137/99, 22/00, 73/00, 129/00, 114/01, 79/06, 141/06, 146/08, 38/09, 153/09, 143/12, 152/14; hereinafter: the law), every natural and legal person may be the holder of property rights, as well as other real rights: easement rights, real encumbrance rights, construction rights and liens on everything that may be the object of these rights, unless otherwise is prescribed by law. The subject of ownership rights and other real rights can be any movable (movables) or immovable thing (real estate), except those that are not capable of it.
The meaning of the term of “things” in terms of law
Things within the meaning of the Law on Ownership and Other Real Rights are bodily parts of nature, different from humans, which serve humans for use. Also, it is assumed that things are everything else that is equated with them by law. Movables are things that can be moved from one place to another without hurting their essence (substance). Things that are movable in nature are considered immovable in the legal sense if they belong to immovable property or the law equates them with real estate.
Real estate is particles of the earth’s surface, together with everything that is permanently connected to the land on or below the surface, unless otherwise is determined by the law. By law, some kinds of rights or anything else can be equated with things; in such a case it is included in movable property, and in real estate only if it is connected with the ownership of immovable property, or is their burden, or is declared real estate by law. In doubt as to something is movable or immovable, it is considered to be movable.
Real estate as objects of real rights
As objects of real rights they are spatially limited parts of the land area and everything that is permanently connected to the land on or below the area, as long as the right of ownership of a certain physical or legal person reaches, unless otherwise is provided by law. On the surface of the land, below and above its surface, various buildings, structures and other devices, plants, transmission lines, oil pipelines, water supply, sewerage, drainage or irrigation systems, etc. are generally considered to be real estate, as objects of rights, and vertically bounded and everything that is permanently connected to the land – natural or artificial, on the surface or below it.
Natural fusion with land is a consequence of causality; artificial joining is a consequence (as a rule) of purposeful human activity (sowing, planting, building and incorporation). On the earth or below its surface is all that man has created, built, and not destroyed by human actions, or by the action of natural forces, or by the interaction of man and nature. Real estate is also a remnant of this destruction that testifies to the deeds (achievements) of previous generations and to past civilizations. Real estate as objects of real rights is limited by the common and public good.
Real estate as a common and public good
Beyond the vertical boundaries of the land, in depth and height, where the justified interest of landowners in defending other people’s interventions ceases, the common good extends. The common and public good and on the surface of the land limits the parts of the land that can be objects of private ownership right. The use of the common and public good in general use is regulated by the state within the limits of its sovereignty, and outside those limits, the use of the common good is regulated by international law.
Human incursions into closer parts of the universe mark the limits of the good of humanity – the domain of international law. With new discoveries and conquests of the area, which is regulated by international law, the good of humanity is rapidly expanding. In this area, with the development of science and technology, new usable properties of nature – real estate as objects of international law and new possibilities of their exploitation are realized. With technological progress, more and more diverse scientific and economic activities are performed in it.
Legal unity of real estate
The legal precondition for the legal unity of real estate, which expresses the traditional principle of superficies solo cedit, is the permanent connection of connected things with land, permanent buildings and other structures and everything that the earth produces on the surface, whether it is wild, sown or planted. Modern legal systems know the institutions of the legal duality of land and buildings (building law, superficial law, etc.), and some of them even the legal duality of land and trees. Therefore, the legal unity of real estate is only a rebuttable presumption (praesumptio iuris tantum).
The definition of the concept and dimensions of real estate as an object of real rights has been updated by the constant increase in the turnover of ownership rights and other real rights to real estate, as well as the increasing encumbrance of real estate to secure monetary claims. This issue is complicated by the right to build. A building right is a limited real right that authorizes its holder to have his own building on the surface or below the surface of someone’s land, and at the same time is considered real estate in legal terms.
Real estate registers
Real estate as objects of law (private and public) are legally individualized immovable things. Since two things cannot be in the same place at the same time according to the law of physics, real estate is individualized by space. The space determines the position and identity of the property. That is why there are no two legally identical properties. In that sense, real estate is an unrepeatable good: always a definite, never a generic thing. The Croatian system of real estate registration and rights to them has multiple tasks, the most important of which are the establishment of security in the legal transactions of real estate and the protection of rights entered in the registers. The system of registration of real estate and rights to it in the Republic of Croatia is based on two registers – the cadastre and the land register
The cadastre is a record that contains data on particles of the earth’s surface and buildings that permanently lie on the earth’s surface or below it, and on special legal regimes on the earth’s surface. The cadastral records are kept by the regional offices for the cadastre of the State Geodetic Administration and the City Office for Cadastre and Geodetic Affairs of the City of Zagreb.
Land registers are public registers in which data on the legal status of real estate relevant to legal transactions are entered. The land register consists of a general ledger and a collection of documents. Land registers are kept in the land registry departments of the municipal courts.
Registration of ownership rights in the land register
Ownership of real estate is acquired by law provided by the entry of the acquirer’s ownership in the land register on the basis of a validly expressed will of the previous owner aimed at transferring his ownership to the acquirer, unless otherwise is provided by law. The provisions of this Act on the acquisition of ownership of real estate by entry in the land register shall apply accordingly to changes and termination of ownership on the basis of legal transactions. The manner of establishing and keeping land registers and the manner of registering in them are regulated by the provisions of land registry law.
Ownership of real estate is acquired by registration in the land register, if the law does not allow the ownership of real estate to be acquired by some other entry in the land register. In order to register ownership, a document must be drawn up on the basis of the legal transaction on the basis of which ownership is acquired, the content and form of which must comply with the rules of land registry law. The registration is effective from the moment the request for registration is submitted to the court. Whoever acquires the right of ownership of real estate by a decision of a court or other body, is authorized to obtain the entry of the acquired right of ownership in the land register.
Acquisition of ownership rights by foreigners
The legal order of the Republic of Croatia respects foreigners the same ability to acquire real estate ownership rights in the territory of the Republic of Croatia as domestic citizens, but with general and special preconditions, there are additional restrictions for foreigners. According to the provisions of the Ownership Act and other real rights, a physical person is considered a party when he does not have the citizenship of the Republic of Croatia, and a legal person when it has a registered office outside the territory of the Republic of Croatia.
In order for foreign persons to become owners of real estate in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, the general preconditions must be met, i.e. the ability of real estate to be the object of ownership, for example foreign persons cannot acquire ownership of agricultural land or forest land. It is required that the acquirer is able to acquire the right of ownership, and that there is a valid legal basis for the acquirer to acquire the right of ownership on that object. Since ownership can be acquired on the basis of a legal transaction, court decision, or other competent authority, inheritance and on the basis of law, depending on these legal bases of acquisition, additional preconditions are prescribed for the case of acquisition of ownership rights for foreign persons in the Republic of Croatia.
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