engleski

Judicial Control of Spatial Plans as Prerequisite of Economic Development in Croatia

Spatial plans are local general acts, and according to the Art. 53 of the Spatial Planning Act (Official Gazette of Croatia 153/13, 65/17, 114/18) they are documents regulating organisation, purpose and utilisation of land and the conditions for the regulation, upgrade and protection of the land belonging to the state, counties, cities or municipalities. Spatial plans regulate the conditions for the construction of buildings and performing of other activities on certain location. They are general acts and are adopted as such by the local or regional council. Process of the adoption of spatial plans involves multiple participants and experts in the field. It also contains public discussions, confirmation of the relevant state authorities, all this provided by the Spatial Planning Act. Spatial plans should combine two different areas which involve public and private interests. Environmental protection and health of the citizens are some of the aspects of the public interest which should be respected by public investors. Participation of different participants in the process of the adoption of spatial plans is strengthening the supervision of the legality of the whole process, but on the other hand there is a space for potential irregularities to occur. Control of legality of spatial plans is divided into two main areas, administrative control, which is exercised by the local administrative bodies such as mayors or state representative in regional units, and judicial control performed by the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia. The speed of control of spatial plans affects the pace of the realisation of investments, thus affecting Croatia’s appeal to investors. The subject of this paper is the analysis of the procedure before the High Administrative Court regarding the legality of spatial plans, the course of the procedure, and the question of how does this procedure affect protection of the fundamental rights of the citizens.

Spatial plan, judicial control, High Administrative Court, economic development.

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