About the national database

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Description

The collection of Croatian legislation comprises legal acts published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia, Narodne novine, and legal acts adopted before Croatia's independence, published in the official gazettes of the predecessor states, that were in force in 2007 when the process of digitalising them began. The collection includes other legal and political acts, such as resolutions and declarations by the Croatian Parliament, national strategies, annual state budgets, reports in the domain of the public authorities, and their statutes, if published in the Official Gazette, Narodne novine.

The collection is maintained by the Central State Office for Development of the Digital Society as part of the Central Catalogue of the Official Documentation of the Republic of Croatia http://www.digured.hr/.

The legislation available via the online service is intended for information purposes only. Only the acts published in the printed version of the Official Gazette, Narodne novine, have legal value.

Sources of law in the Republic of Croatia

  • The Constitution (Ustav) is the legal act with the highest legal status.
  • International agreements - in accordance with the Constitution, the law and the rules of international law, the president of the Republic of Croatia and the president of the Government of the Republic of Croatia are responsible for entering into international agreements, depending on the nature and the content of the international agreement. The international agreements concluded in accordance with the Constitution, verified by the Croatian Parliament and then published constitute an integral part of the legal order of the Republic and are higher in legal value than the law.
  • Laws (zakoni) are general legal acts adopted by the Croatian Parliament in accordance with the procedure set out in the Constitution. Before entering into force they have to be published in the Official Gazette Narodne novine and they generally enter into force on the eighth day following that of their publication.
  • By-laws (podzakonski akti) are legal acts adopted by the public authorities. In terms of legal status they come after the Constitution and the law. They are adopted under a special authorisation included in the higher legal norm or for the purposes of implementing principles provided for in the higher norm. By-laws include government decrees, ministerial rules, decisions and orders.
  • Decisions of the Constitutional Court on the accordance of the law with the Constitution and the accordance of other legal acts with the Constitution and the law.