Original scientific paper
The Right of Way as Legal Servitude Burdening the Public Real Properties for the Construction of Electronic Communication Infrastructure
Justina Bajt
; T-com d.d., Zagreb
Abstract
In her article the author explores the ways in which the legal institute of "right of way" regulated by the European Directive 2002/21/EC has been implemented within the legal system of the Republic of Croatia. The right of way is the right which refers to use of public and other real properties for the purpose of constructing, installing, using, servicing and developing the electronic communication infrastructure. The Law on Electronic Communications regulates a public, state interest to construct, install and develop the electronic communication infrastructure allowing the investors of construction of such infrastructure, who are at the same time in most case the operators of public communication networks, to use a common good and real properties owned by public persons from the sphere of the public law (by the state and units of local and regional self-government) implementing the right of way according to preferential condition prescribed by law.
The author concludes that provisions of the 2008 Law on Electronic Communications were used as a legal basis to enable infrastructural operators to acquire the right of way for electronic communication infrastructure which was already built at the moment in which the Law entered into force, as well as for the infrastructure which will be constructed after the 1st of July 2008. Nevertheless, the 2011 Law on Amendments and Supplements to the Law on Electronic Communications introduced substantive alterations in implementation of the right of way for the purpose of new constructing. Due to the fact that a possibility to acquire the right of way burdening the common good, public and other real properties for construction of a new electronic communication infrastructure was omitted from the amended provisions and that the institute of right of way could be only applied in cases of already built infrastructure, the author believes that the legal solutions in question are going to have a negative impact on future development of electronic communication infrastructure. She also believes that there is a slim chance that infrastructural operators would construct the infrastructure without having legally regulated relations with the administrator of common good, that is, with the owners of public and other real properties in accordance with general and specific legal regulations of real property. Consequently, due to the current conditions in the Republic of Croatia, they would have to wait for arrangement of de facto situation in land registries. The 2011 legislative amendments are in fact contrary to the principles prescribed within the Article 11 of the Directive 2002/21/EC referring to the construction of the new electronic communication infrastructure. The same principles were implemented by the 2008 Law on Electronic Communications. Consequently, the author presents propositions according to which it would be desirable to harmonize Croatian regulations with the mentioned Directive which strives to facilitate legal regulations on the use of public and other real properties for construction of the new electronic communication infrastructure.
Keywords
right of way; electronic communication infrastructure; property; common good; public real properties
Hrčak ID:
87710
URI
Publication date:
16.4.2012.
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