Act on Restrictive Measures (Official Gazette, No. 133/23 and 151/25 – Unofficial Consolidated Text)

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ACT ON RESTRICTIVE MEASURES (Official Gazette, No. 133/23 and 151/25 – Unofficial Consolidated Text)

PART ONE GENERAL PROVISIONS

Subject of the Act Article 1. This Act regulates the application, implementation, and supervision of the application of restrictive measures implemented in the Republic of Croatia on the basis of binding legal acts of the European Union, the United Nations, and other international organizations, as well as restrictive measures adopted by the Government of the Republic of Croatia (hereinafter: the Government).

Article 1.a (OG 151/25) This Act transposes Directive (EU) 2024/1226 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 April 2024 on the definition of criminal offences and sanctions for breaches of Union restrictive measures and amending Directive (EU) 2018/1673 (OJ L, 2024/1226, 29. 4. 2024.) into Croatian legislation.

Objective of the Act Article 2. Restrictive measures apply to natural and legal persons, states, territories and entities, organizations, and other subjects covered by restrictive measures, in order to protect democratic values, the rule of law, human rights, and principles of international law, as well as to preserve international peace, prevent conflicts, and strengthen international security.

Application of Other Regulations Article 3. (1) Questions regarding property rights and other real rights not otherwise regulated by this Act or by restrictive measures under Article 4, paragraph 1 of this Act shall be governed by the law regulating property rights and other real rights. (2) Questions regarding the organization and management of commercial companies not otherwise regulated by this Act or by restrictive measures under Article 4, paragraph 1 of this Act shall be governed by the law regulating the establishment, organization, termination, and status changes of commercial companies and associated companies. (3) In the procedure for implementing restrictive measures, and in cases of taking preventive measures to prevent the use of the financial system for money laundering and terrorist financing, the provisions of the law regulating measures, actions, and procedures taken to prevent and detect money laundering and terrorist financing shall apply. (4) Questions regarding the protection of confidential data shall be governed, mutatis mutandis, by the law regulating data secrecy and the regulation governing the marking of classified data, the content and appearance of certificates of completed security checks, and statements on the handling of classified data. (5) Questions in the field of trade and provision of services related to dual-use goods, not otherwise regulated by this Act, shall be governed by the law regulating the control of dual-use goods.

Fundamental Terms Article 4. (OG 151/25) (1) Restrictive measures, within the meaning of this Act, are considered to be:

1. measures of the European Union adopted on the basis of Article 29 of the Treaty on European Union or on the basis of Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;
2. measures established by resolutions of the United Nations Security Council;
3. measures of other international organizations binding the Republic of Croatia in accordance with international law; and
4. measures adopted by decision of the Government upon the proposal of the ministry responsible for foreign affairs.

(2) Restrictive measures include:

1. restriction on the disposal of assets;
2. prohibition of entry into the territory of the Republic of Croatia or prohibition of transit through the territory of the Republic of Croatia;
3. complete or partial termination of economic relations;
4. complete or partial restriction of trade, import, export, transit, provision of services, and postal traffic, transport, electronic, and other communications;
5. arms and military equipment embargo;
6. termination of diplomatic relations; and
7. other measures in accordance with international and European law.

(3) A person, subject, or body covered by restrictive measures in force in the Republic of Croatia (hereinafter: subject covered by restrictive measures) is a natural or legal person, subject, or body that is the object of restrictive measures in force in the Republic of Croatia.

(4) Assets are considered to be funds and economic resources:

1. funds refer to financial assets and benefits of any kind, including, but not limited to, cash, checks, monetary claims, bills of exchange, payment orders, and other payment instruments, deposits in financial institutions or other subjects, account balances, debts and debt obligations, securities and debt instruments traded publicly and privately, including shares and stakes, certificates of securities, bonds, bills of exchange, warrants, promissory notes, and contracts for financial derivatives, interest, dividends, or other income from assets or value derived from or realized through assets, loans, rights of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial obligations, letters of credit, bills of lading, sales contracts, documents proving a share in funds or economic resources, and crypto-assets as defined in Article 3, paragraph 1, point 5 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
2. economic resources refer to assets of any kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, which are not funds but can be used to obtain funds, goods, or services.

(5) Restriction on the disposal of assets, within the meaning of this Act, includes among other things:

1. freezing of all funds and economic resources owned, held, or controlled by, or directly or indirectly owned by, a subject covered by restrictive measures or persons associated with them;
2. refusal to make funds and economic resources available, directly or indirectly, to or for the benefit of a subject covered by restrictive measures or persons associated with them.

(6) Freezing of funds, within the meaning of this Act, means preventing any movement, transfer, alteration, or use of funds or access to funds or disposal of funds in a manner that would lead to a change in their quantity, amount, location, ownership, possession, nature, destination, or a change that would enable the use and utilization of those funds, including portfolio management.

(7) Freezing of economic resources, within the meaning of this Act, means preventing the use of economic resources to obtain funds, goods, or services in any way, including, but not limited to, their sale, lease, rental, or pledge.

(8) The restriction in paragraph 5 of this Article does not apply to the inflow to frozen accounts of interest or other income from those accounts, provided that such interest or income is subject to the provision of paragraph 5, point 1 of this Article.

(9) The provision of paragraph 5, point 2 of this Article does not prevent the inflow to a frozen account of funds transferred from third parties for the benefit of the account of a subject covered by restrictive measures, provided that all such inflows to that account are also frozen.

(10) An associated person, within the meaning of this Act, is a natural or legal person or other subject or body associated with a person, subject, or body covered by restrictive measures, which directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries has control over the person, subject, or body covered by restrictive measures, or is under the control of the person, subject, or body covered by restrictive measures.

(11) An exemption from the application of restrictive measures, within the meaning of this Act, refers to conduct for which approval from the competent authority is not required because it is prescribed as an exemption by the legal act introducing the restrictive measures.

(12) A derogation from the application of restrictive measures, within the meaning of this Act, refers to conduct for which approval from the competent authority under Article 12, paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 of this Act is required if the conditions prescribed by the legal act introducing the restrictive measures are met.

(13) Freezing of funds and economic resources in the context of criminal proceedings is considered a provisional security measure prescribed by the law regulating criminal proceedings.

Neutral Use of Gendered Terms Article 5. Terms used in this Act that have gender significance apply equally to the male and female gender.

PART TWO PERMANENT WORKING GROUP FOR THE APPLICATION AND MONITORING OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RESTRICTIVE MEASURES

Article 6. (1) The Government adopts a decision on the establishment of the Permanent Working Group for the Application and Monitoring of the Implementation of Restrictive Measures (hereinafter: the Working Group), which further regulates its organization, tasks, method of decision-making, and powers, and which is coordinated by a representative of the ministry responsible for foreign affairs.

(2) The Working Group is tasked with harmonizing positions, coordinating, and monitoring common policies and activities in achieving strategic and operational objectives in the field of implementing restrictive measures, adopting procedures and general guidelines, and, as necessary, recommendations and opinions on the application of restrictive measures, as well as other tasks explicitly entrusted to it by this Act.

(3) The competent state administration body represented in the work of the Working Group may, after discussion within the Working Group, propose to the Government the adoption of a regulation for the implementation of decisions, regulations, and implementing regulations of the Council of the European Union on restrictive measures, if the competence of member states in deciding on certain issues is provided for in the decision.

(4) The head of the competent body represented in the work of the Working Group is authorized, for the uniform application of restrictive measures, to issue guidelines within their competence, in accordance with the provisions of the law regulating the system of state administration, the laws regulating the tasks, powers, and organization of the Croatian National Bank, and the laws regulating the tasks, powers, and organization of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency.

(5) Natural and legal persons and other subjects under Article 8, paragraph 1 of this Act may request the competent body represented in the work of the Working Group to provide instructions on the application of a specific provision of this Act or a specific restrictive measure within the competence of that body.

(6) For the uniform application of this Act and subordinate acts adopted on its basis, the competent body represented in the work of the Working Group may, before issuing guidelines and instructions under paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Article, request the opinion of the Working Group if necessary.

(7) Guidelines under paragraph 2 of this Article shall be published on the website of the ministry responsible for foreign affairs, and guidelines under paragraph 4 of this Article shall be published on the website of the competent body that issued those guidelines.

(8) When the nature of the inquiry under paragraph 5 of this Article implies that interpretation of directly applicable European Union regulations is required, the Working Group shall refer such inquiry to the European Commission via the ministry responsible for foreign affairs or another competent body if it concerns specific sectoral issues.

PART THREE APPLICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF RESTRICTIVE MEASURES

Direct Application Article 7. (OG 151/25) (1) Restrictive measures under Article 4, paragraph 1 of this Act shall be directly applied in the Republic of Croatia without delay from the date of their entry into force.

(2) Restrictive measures introduced by resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, as well as the consolidated sanctions lists of the United Nations Security Council, are directly binding in the Republic of Croatia until the adoption or update of the corresponding legal act of the Council of the European Union.

(3) The ministry responsible for foreign affairs shall promptly publish on its website information on the entry into force of restrictive measures under Article 4, paragraph 1 of this Act, together with a link to the current sanctions lists of the United Nations Security Council and the European Union, as well as a link to restrictive measures under Article 4, paragraph 1, points 3 and 4 of this Act.

(4) To ensure effective implementation of restrictive measures, the ministry responsible for foreign affairs shall maintain an electronic database of restrictive measures containing updated measures under Article 4, paragraph 1 of this Act, which shall be available on the website of the ministry responsible for foreign affairs.

(5) Obligated persons under Article 8, paragraphs 1 and 2 shall apply the measures under paragraph 2 of this Article from the moment of their publication in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article.

(6) If the Financial Agency executes enforcement against or for the benefit of a person, subject, or body for which it subsequently learns or receives notification that they are covered by restrictive measures, it shall cease further implementation of enforcement until receipt of a decision from the competent authority under Article 12 of this Act regarding the Financial Agency's conduct in the implementation of enforcement.

(7) If the Financial Agency receives a payment basis against or for the benefit of a person, subject, or body of which it has knowledge is covered by restrictive measures, the Financial Agency shall enter the payment basis into the Register of Payment Bases and cease further implementation of enforcement until receipt of a decision from the competent authority under Article 12 of this Act regarding the Financial Agency's conduct in the implementation of enforcement.

(8) The head of each competent body under Articles 8, 12, and 13 of this Act is required to designate a contact point for restrictive measures within their scope, which, among other things, directly receives information from the ministry responsible for foreign affairs on the entry into force of restrictive measures under Article 4, paragraph 1 of this Act, and shall notify all members of the Working Group under Article 6 of this Act of the appointment and make contact point data available to the public on their websites.

(9) Competent bodies for the implementation and application of restrictive measures are required to publish and maintain an updated link to the website under paragraph 3 of this Article on their websites.

(10) Supervisory bodies under Article 13 of this Act are required to promptly publish the link to the website under paragraph 3 of this Article on their websites.

(11) Any actions aimed at the direct or indirect conscious avoidance of measures under Article 4, paragraphs 2, 4, 5, and 6 of this Act are prohibited.

Application of Restrictive Measures and Obligated Persons to Act in Accordance with the Provisions of this Act Article 8. (OG 151/25) (1) All natural and legal persons, state administration bodies, and other subjects are required to act in accordance with the provisions of this Act and regulations adopted on the basis of this Act.

(2) Natural persons conducting registered activities, legal persons, state administration bodies, and other subjects are required to ensure the direct application of restrictive measures within their scope.

(3) Unless otherwise provided by the provisions of this Act, the following bodies are primarily competent for the application of restrictive measures on the disposal of economic resources:

1. for ships and maritime objects – the ministry responsible for transport, which shall enter a note of the restrictive measure into the register of ships or maritime objects, and shall separately notify the ministry responsible for internal affairs for entry into their record;
2. for aircraft – the Croatian Civil Aviation Agency, which shall enter a note of the restrictive measure into the register of civil aircraft of the Republic of Croatia, and shall separately notify the ministry responsible for internal affairs for entry into their record;
3. for motor vehicles – the ministry responsible for internal affairs, which shall enter a note of the restrictive measure into the register of registered and marked vehicles;
4. for railway vehicles – the Railway Safety Agency, which shall enter a note of the restrictive measure into the register of railway vehicles, and shall separately notify the ministry responsible for internal affairs for entry into their record;
5. for civilian firearms – the ministry responsible for internal affairs, which shall enter a note of the restrictive measure into the record of registered civilian firearms.

(4) For the application of the measure prohibiting entry into the territory of the Republic of Croatia or transit through the territory of the Republic of Croatia, the ministry responsible for internal affairs is primarily competent.

(5) For the application of the measure of complete or partial termination of economic relations, the ministry responsible for foreign affairs is primarily competent.

(6) For the application of the measure of complete or partial restriction of import, export, and transit, the ministry responsible for finance – the Customs Administration is primarily competent.

(7) For the application of the measure of complete or partial restriction of the provision of services, every body that supervises or regulates service activities in the Republic of Croatia in accordance with its scope and powers is competent.

(8) For the application of the measure of complete or partial restriction of road, air, rail, and maritime traffic (hereinafter: transport communications), the ministry responsible for transport is primarily competent.

(9) For the application of the measure of complete or partial restriction of postal services and electronic communications, the Croatian Regulatory Network Agency is primarily competent.

(10) For the application of the measure of embargo on arms and military equipment, the ministry responsible for economic affairs is primarily competent.

(11) For the application of restrictive measures for dual-use goods, the ministry responsible for foreign affairs is primarily competent.

(12) For the application of the measure of termination of diplomatic relations, the ministry responsible for foreign affairs is primarily competent.

(13) For the application of restrictive measures on dematerialized securities, the Central Clearing and Depository Company is competent.

(14) For the application of restrictive measures on the disposal of business shares and real estate, the commercial and municipal courts in the Republic of Croatia are competent.

(15) The competent commercial court shall enter a note of the international measure prohibiting disposal, encumbrance, and transfer of business shares into the court register on the basis of binding legal acts of the European Union, the United Nations, and other international organizations, as well as restrictive measures adopted by the Government, and decisions of the Working Group.

(16) The competent commercial court shall delete the entry of the note of the international measure prohibiting disposal, encumbrance, and transfer of business shares from the court register on the basis of binding legal acts of the European Union, the United Nations, and other international organizations, as well as restrictive measures adopted by the Government, and decisions of the Working Group.

(17) The competent municipal court, acting as the land registry court, shall enter a note of the international measure restricting free management and disposal into the land registry booklet on the basis of binding legal acts of the European Union, the United Nations, and other international organizations, as well as restrictive measures adopted by the Government, and decisions of the Working Group.

(18) The competent municipal court, acting as the land registry court, shall delete the entry of the note of the international measure restricting free management and disposal from the land registry booklet on the basis of binding legal acts of the European Union, the United Nations, and other international organizations, as well as restrictive measures adopted by the Government, and decisions of the Working Group.

(19) Subjects under paragraph 2 of this Article may temporarily restrict the disposal of economic resources and funds for a period of up to ten working days when it is necessary to verify data about a specific person or funds, including obtaining additional data, information, and documentation domestically or abroad, or when there are grounds for suspicion that economic resources, funds, or a specific person are the object of restrictive measures under Article 4, paragraph 1 of this Act.

(20) After the expiration of the period under paragraph 19 of this Article, subjects under paragraph 2 of this Article, if they determine that economic resources, funds, or a specific person are the object of restrictive measures under Article 4, paragraph 1 of this Act, are required to apply that restrictive measure.

(21) Heads of state administration bodies propose to the Government the adoption or amendment of laws and other regulations necessary for the effective application of restrictive measures within their sectoral competence.

(22) Heads of state administration bodies regulate procedures necessary for the effective implementation and application of restrictive measures within their scope by subordinate regulations.

(23) Heads of state administration bodies and legal persons with public authority, if in addition to the primarily competent body or legal person under paragraphs 3 to 11 of this Article there is a state administration body or legal person with public authority that has part of the competence in a certain area, shall conclude a cooperation agreement for the implementation of restrictive measures in that area.

(24) Subjects under paragraphs 1 to 14 of this Article are required to report the application of restrictive measures without delay, and no later than the next working day, to the body maintaining the Data Collection under Article 16 of this Act and to the supervisory body under Article 13 of this Act responsible for supervising such subjects.

(25) In addition to the obligation under paragraph 24 of this Article, supervised subjects supervised by the Croatian National Bank and the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency are required to report the application of restrictive measures to the ministry responsible for finance and the Financial Agency.

(26) Subjects under paragraphs 1 to 14 of this Article are required to report the application of restrictive measures to other relevant bodies if the reporting obligation is prescribed by a European Union regulation, in the manner and within the time limit prescribed by the regulation.

(27) When they determine the existence of circumstances indicating the possibility of a breach or avoidance of restrictive measures, including when there is suspicion that restrictive measures are being breached or avoided through associated persons, or when they possess information necessary for competent bodies to implement restrictive measures, obligated persons to act in accordance with the provisions of this Act are required to promptly, or no later than the first working day after becoming aware of their existence, submit such data and information to the competent body responsible for implementing such restrictive measures in accordance with this Article.

Listing on Sanctions Lists Article 9. (1) The Working Group, on the initiative of any of its members and on the basis of collected information, knowledge, and analyses of competent bodies, as well as other relevant bodies, examines possibilities and, with the consent of the Government, adopts a decision on the proposal to list a natural or legal person, or another subject, on the sanctions list of the European Union, on which the Council of the European Union makes the final decision.

(2) The Working Group, on the initiative of any of its members and on the basis of collected information, knowledge, and analyses of competent bodies, as well as other relevant bodies, examines possibilities and, with the consent of the Government, adopts a decision on the proposal to list a natural or legal person, or another subject, on the sanctions list of the United Nations Security Council under resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011), and 1988 (2011), and other resolutions of the United Nations Security Council on the basis of which sanctions lists are adopted, as well as on determining associated persons in accordance with the criteria under Article 4, paragraph 9 of this Act.

(3) The Working Group, upon the proposal of any of its members and on the basis of collected information, knowledge, and analyses of competent bodies and other relevant bodies, examines the possibility of determining associated persons in accordance with the criteria under Article 4, paragraph 9 of this Act and, with the consent of the Government, adopts a decision on determining the association of a specific person with a person on the list of restrictive measures, to which those measures consequently also apply.

(4) Proposals under paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 of this Article are submitted if there is suspicion or grounds for suspicion that the person is subject to the criteria for listing on a specific sanctions list, or if there is suspicion or grounds for suspicion that the person is an associated person under Article 4, paragraph 9 of this Act.

(5) Proposals under paragraphs