Slovenian police sends fines to Croatian fishermen for sea territory violations

Border control may deny entry into Slovenia if fine is not paid

27. januar 2018 ob 9.31 • Ljubljana - MMC RTV SLO

The Slovenian police have so far intervened a little over 30 times, although the arrival of Croatian vessels across the arbitration-set boundary to the Slovenian sea has been more frequent, at least 56, of which 21 have been fishing vessels. Photo: BoBo

Less than a month after the deadline given by the Court of Arbitration to Slovenia and Croatia to enforce a judicial decision on the border between the two countries, the Slovenian police sent their first penalty charge notices to Croatian fishermen for their illegal entry into Slovenian waters.

At the beginning of the week, Croatian fishermen in Umag explained that they had not received any fines, and that the Slovenian police only threatened with this possibility throughout January to intimidate them. And a few days later? According to the website of the Slovenian police, the first 14 penalty charge notices were dispatched on Friday. Since 30 December, the Police has been patrolling in the Slovenian sea, as defined by the arbitration award.

The Slovenian police referred to the Offences Act, and dealt with offenders who are foreign citizens, which dictates special procedures. Since they had crossed the maritime border illegally, it was not possible to issue penalty charges on the spot. Before issuing payment orders, it is necessary to examine the circumstances of the offence, collect the evidence and provide a suitable translation of the payment order notice before sending them abroad, explains the police, adding that the violators have all qualified as a natural person and not a Croatian institution. And what is a potential penalty for an offender who does not pay the fine after the offence procedure is finalised? They may be refused entry into Slovenia.
The Slovenian police have so far intervened a little over 30 times, although the arrival of Croatian vessels across the arbitration-set boundary to the Slovenian sea has been more frequent, at least 56, of which 21 have been fishing vessels.

The matter is closely monitored by the Slovenian Agricultural Inspectorate. The Fisheries Inspector in the Bay of Piran is examining 11 alleged violations, all of which are related to illicit fishing; but this statistics does not include the shellfish farm, which had been expanded by a Croatian citizen in the Piran Bay after receiving assurances from the Croatian authorities that he was allowed to do so even after the arbitration award. At the end of last year, two breeding lines of shellfish were thus put there. On the other hand, the Croatian authorities do not seem to have initiated any procedures against Slovenian fishermen for fishing in the sea territory that the Court of Arbitration had awarded to Slovenia.