Use of the word “Hrvatska" or its derivatives in the names of institutions and bilingual names of institutions
The same Act stipulates that an institution may have a bilingual name - in a foreign living or dead language in addition to the Croatian language and Latin script - if so provided by a law, a decree or a decision of this Ministry.
A decision on approval of the use of the word “Hrvatska” or its derivatives in the name of an institution or the use of a bilingual name of an institution is issued in an administrative procedure, unless the institution with such a name has been established by a law or a government decree.
The procedure is initated upon submission of an application by a person authorised to represent the institution, or its founder or attorney-in-fact.
The application should be reasoned and accompanied by all the documents legally required for the registration of a name or a change in the name in the Court Business Register (first of all, the founding act or its amendments). The enclosed documents can be originals, certified copies, transcripts or in another legally prescribed form. The application should contain a freely formulated explanation for using the word “Hrvatska” or its derivatives in the name of the institution, e.g. for the sake of recognisability, emphasis on affiliation and/or the fact that the institution performs a public interest activity on the entire territory of Croatia, etc. An application which lacks an explanation or accompanying documents in the form legally required for documents accompanying such an application.
If the power of attorney is made in a foreign language, a certified translation into Croatian should be enclosed with the application. The same applies to all public and private documents that accompany the application. Documents subject to legalisation must be enclosed in a legalised form. For more information nn the procedure of legalisation of documents, along with a list of countries for which no legalisation is required, please follow this link.
The application can be submitted to the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation in person, in writing or by stating it for the record, or by post or e-mail. An application sent by e-mail must contain a qualified electronic signature in accordance with a special law.
If you wish to submit the application in person, it is recommended to do this in the premises of the Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation at Maksimirska 63, Zagreb.
If sending the application by post, it is recommended to send it to the following address: Ministarstvo pravosuđa, uprave i digitalne transformacije, Maksimirska 63, 10000 Zagreb.
The application is decided in an administrative procedure on the basis of a free (discretionary) assessment, taking particular care that the name of the institution does not offend the reputation and dignity of the Republic of Croatia, i.e. that it is not contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, peremptory norms and the morality of society. In the case of a bilingual name, care is taken, first of all, to ensure that it is an adequate translation from the Croatian language into a foreign language, and if the bilingual name also contains the word ‘Hrvatska’ or its derivatives, then the above applies, too. The decision is not subject to appeal, but an administrative dispute may be initiated.
The application and the resulting decision are not subject to administrative fee payment.
The above instructions also apply accordingly to applications for the use of the word “Hrvatska" or its derivatives in the name of a branch of an institution and to the use of a bilingual name of the branch of an institution, in accordance with Article 28 of the Institutions Act, as well as for the inclusion of the name of another state or international (intergovernmental) organisation in the name of an institution in accordance with Article 18(3) of the Institutions Act.
The above rules on the use of a bilingual name do not apply to institutions established with the aim of protecting and promoting the education, culture and information of members of an ethnic and national community or minority, which may use a bilingual name without special approval, nor to institutions carrying out activities in the territory of a local and regional self-government unit in which, in addition to the Croatian language and Latin script, official use of the language and script of members of a particular ethnic and national community or minority has been introduced, which are required to have a bilingual name - in the Croatian language and Latin script and in the language and script of the respective ethnic and national community or minority.
For more information on applications for the inclusion of the word ‘Hrvatska’ or its derivatives in a company name, please follow this link.
For any inquiries, please contact us at politickisustav.uprava@mpudt.hr.