World Bank Supports Croatia Advance Next-Generation Reforms in Land Administration and Justice Systems

The World Bank Board today approved financing to support the Republic of Croatia’s continued enhancement and modernization of digital land administration services. The project will benefit Croatia’s citizens, businesses, and government decision-makers by speeding up functional integration of land administration and court institutions and assisting the Croatian government to implement integrated solutions to maximize benefits from past investments in the land registry, cadaster, and courts.

The EUR 110 million ($121.8 million equivalent) Integrated Land Administration and Justice Services Project will assist the Croatian government to tackle existing challenges and advance next-generation reforms by digitizing and integrating land registry and cadaster services, followed by the upgrading of key information systems that maintain land registry, cadastral, and court data. Activities will also include developing geospatial datasets for infrastructure and buildings nationwide and rehabilitating court, land registry and cadaster infrastructure to European Union (EU) standards in Novska, Rijeka, Bjelovar, and Velika Gorica. Currently courts, land registry offices (LROs), and cadaster offices (COs) are often scattered around municipalities rather than co-located, creating access challenges for citizens and leading to multiple journeys and time wasted.

“Modernization of the land administration and justice sectors in Croatia, through improved institutions and integrated service delivery, is a cornerstone of public administration reform,” said Jehan Arulpragasam, World Bank Country Manager for Croatia. “With support from the World Bank, Croatia’s land administration system has undergone a profound transformation over the last decade and a half becoming more efficient, less costly, and more accessible to citizens and businesses. A modern and efficient land administration and court system will foster entrepreneurship development, strengthen Croatia’s competitiveness, and improve the efficiency of the public sector. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Croatia on this critical work.”

The new project will help set the foundation for improving spatial and investment planning, enhancing real estate markets, developing a household registry, and supporting Croatia’s ambitious climate agenda, while providing modern service delivery standards that reflect the needs of users.  The capacity of the Ministry of Justice and Public Administration, the State Geodetic Administration, and stakeholders to manage, generate, and utilize improved cadastral and spatial data will also be improved. The construction of an initial set of integrated court and land management facilities will provide authorities with a replicable and scalable model for the entire sector, resulting in the provision of safer, greener, and more efficient service delivery, with improvements in citizen engagement for all.

This focus on land administration and justice sector reform builds upon notable progress achieved in recent years. Early achievements, supported by the World Bank included simplification of land registration procedures and the establishment of a single land information database, which enabled citizens to conduct transactions, such as registration of sales and mortgages, more quickly and to more easily access land documents online. This was followed by mass digitization of land documents, integration of land service procedures between Cadaster Offices (CO) and Land Registry Offices (LROs), and development of e-services and the Joint Information System (JIS). The JIS is a fully centralized, web-based system that allows for the sharing of land data, contains information from several other government databases, and is shared with more than 120 government entities and municipalities. It has enabled 38 million land documents to be scanned and digitized, making them more easily accessible and safe from natural disasters.