DAPA

On the centenary of the Treaty of Rapallo, which falls on 12 November, two lawyers – prof. dr. sc. Ivan Milotić and lawyer Tomislav Sadrić – prepared a collection of papers on the Treaty of Rapallo and the Lateran Treaties and their legal echoes between states and within the Church, with particular emphasis on Istria and the Kvarner islands.

As far as the Treaty of Rapallo is only an intergovernmental treaty between the Kingdoms of SHS and Italy, and as far as the Lateran Treaties refer to the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy, both have had a far-reaching impact among states, on the Church, but also on international law. These treaties echoed not only between States, but also between States, given the position of the Church within them and, finally, the relationship between the Church and the State in general. They directly or indirectly reflect, or are deeply connected with, the interpenetration of civil and canon law and the influence of ecclesiastical and state authority on each other. Marking the great and round anniversaries of these treaties, an international scientific conference was held in Motovun in 2019, while in 2020, on the centenary of the Rapallo Treaty (which falls on 12 November), two lawyers – prof. dr. sc. Ivan Milotić and lawyer Tomislav Sadrić – prepared a collection of papers on the Treaty of Rapallo and the Lateran Treaties and their legal echoes between states and within the Church, with particular emphasis on Istria and the Kvarner islands. These treaties (and their legal echoes between states and in the Church) attract attention because of the importance and far-reaching nature of the regulation and its legal and other consequences for our (Croatian) regions. Attention is drawn not only to the question of relations between the Yugoslav and Italian states in turbulent political turmoil and territorial redistributions after the First World War, but also to the very specific arrangement of relations between the Holy See and the Italian state, from which the globally recognizable international legal subjectivity of the Holy See and the Vatican City State has emerged. Due to the inter-state demarcation and territorial-political constellations of the time, both of these treaties, together with their signatories, directly refer to our regions, because both were applied in them – both of which were included in the Italian and Yugoslav states, but also because, due to their predominant Catholic character, these regions and their people were in some way represented by the Holy See.

The first part of the Proceedings is dedicated to the Rapallo Treaty, its genesis, the wider context of its creation, the analysis of the provisions and especially its legal and factual consequences and echoes in Istria and the Kvarner islands (ethnic, linguistic, administrative, political, ecclesiastical, educational, etc.) and in other Croatian countries. Although it is an interstate treaty, the boundaries of the ecclesiastical provinces, but also the administrative structure of particular churches (for example, the appointment of apostolic administrators sede impedita) have adapted to the redistribution of territory between states and to the interstate demarcation, which has left open questions in some places to this day (for example, in the Diocese of Krk regarding part of the territory of the historic Diocese of Osor). Regarding the Lateran Treaties, an insight into Croatian literature and curricula of legal studies was provided, especially in the field of public international law that deal with them, as well as the accompanying topics, such as the Holy See, the position of the Roman Pontiff, the Vatican City State, the Guarantee Law and others. Duo Sunt, as well as its implementation in the 1929 treaties and its change in 1984 at the time of their revision.

The publishers of the Proceedings are the State Archives in Pazin, Josip Turčinović from Pazin and the Municipality of Motovun, and the authors are relevant lawyers, who systematically study canon and civil law in the Republic of Croatia, and historians. This is the sixth in a series of proceedings from the publishing unit, which each year specifically deals with precisely defined topics in the field of contact and the interpenetration of civil and canon law.