engleski

The repercussions of the legal definitions of ship, yacht and boat in the Croatian Maritime Code on the court competence ratione materiae in disputes arising from berthing contracts

The Croatian Maritime Code contains legal definitions of the terms ship ; yacht ; and boat. The main distinctions amongst the said terms are drawn in relation to the use and technical features of the respective types of vessels or craft. Whether a craft is legally a ship, a yacht or a boat will affect the application of the provisions of the Maritime Code and the court competence ratione materiae. In Croatia, commercial courts are competent to hear the cases governed by maritime law ; all cases arising in relation to ships and yachts ; as well as those arising in relation to navigation. The prevailing case law in Croatia is that marina operators' berthing contracts for yachts fall under the competence of commercial courts. However, the question in practice arises when a berthing contract is for a boat, since cases relating to boats generally fall under the competence of general civil courts, unless maritime law applies or the case is related to navigation. The authors critically examine the examples of the relevant court practice pointing at the lack of uniformity of the court practice in respect of ratione materiae competence. Certain de lege ferenda considerations are submitted with a view of improving the legal certainty and uniform application of the law relating to marina operators' berthing contracts, bearing in mind that Croatia has a strategic orientation towards the development of nautical tourism

brod, jahta, brodica, ugovor o vezu, koncesionar marine, luka nautičkog turizma, stvarna nadležnost, pomorski spor

Rad je izložen na međunarodnom znanstvenom skupu: 5th International Research Seminar in Maritime, Port and Transport Law, 29th June – 2nd July 2016, Bologna.