INTRODUCTION

Before the Succession Regulation came into force, Croatian private international law of succession was governed by the Croatian Private International Law Act (hereinafter : Croatian PIL Act), several bilateral treaties and one multilateral treaty, i.e. the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 on the Conflicts of Laws Relating to the Form of Testamentary Dispositions.

Amongst all the bilateral treaties dealing with succession matters with an international element, only a few outlived the entrance into force of the Succession Regulation. Most bilateral treaties have been derogated from by the Succession Regulation, by virtue of its Article 75(2), since they were concluded with other EU Member States. Those treaties deal with a wide scope of international legal assistance in civil and even criminal matters. They are, of course, still in force, but the parts dealing with succession matters have been replaced by the Succession Regulation. The majority of such treaties cover jurisdictional issues, conflict of laws, and recognition and enforcement of foreign decisions in succession matters, whereas the minority cover only recognition and enforcement of foreign decisions in succession matters.

Three bilateral treaties were not influenced by the Regulation in any way since they are outside of its scope of application. Treaties with Bosnia and Herzegovina of 1996, (today: North) Macedonia of 1994 and Turkey of 1999 were concluded to regulate issues of legal assistance in civil (and criminal) matters. They apply to recognition and enforcement of decisions in civil matters, including succession matters. The issue of recognition and enforcement of decisions is also governed by the Succession Regulation, but only between Member States. Seeing that these bilateral treaties apply to recognition and enforcement of decisions from non-EU Member States, and do not cover conflict of laws or jurisdiction, they are not in collision with the Regulation. If and when some of those States accede to the European Union, the Succession Regulation will prevail in application between them as well.

The only bilateral treaty that applies in Croatia pursuant to Article 75(1) of the Succession Regulation is the one on legal assistance with the former Soviet Union (Treaty 4). That treaty was in force in Croatia when the Succession Regulation came into force; it regulates the issues covered by the Succession Regulation and was not concluded exclusively between Member States. It thus meets all the criteria under Article 75(1), and therefore the Regulation does not influence its application.