Croatian Law MCP Server

The Croatian law corpus is now served through the Ansvar Gateway. Connect your AI assistant (Claude, Copilot, Cursor, custom MCP client) to https://gateway.ansvar.eu/mcp — one OAuth connection, free tier available, covering this corpus plus EU regulations, national law across dozens of audited jurisdictions (Europe + the US), and CVE/security intelligence, every result with a verbatim source citation. Start at https://ansvar.eu/docs/quickstart

Connect

Claude Code (one line):

claude mcp add ansvar --transport http https://gateway.ansvar.eu/mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor — add to claude_desktop_config.json (or mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ansvar": {
      "type": "url",
      "url": "https://gateway.ansvar.eu/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Claude.ai — Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector → paste https://gateway.ansvar.eu/mcp

First request opens an OAuth signup flow (setup details: ansvar.eu/docs/quickstart). After signup, your client is bound to your account; tier (free / premium / team / company) determines fan-out, quota, and which downstream MCPs are reachable.

Self-host this MCP

You can also clone this repo and build the corpus yourself. The schema, fetcher, and tool implementations all live here. What is not in the repo is the pre-built database — TDM and standards-licensing constraints on the upstream sources mean we host the corpus on Ansvar infrastructure rather than redistribute it as a public artifact.

Build your own: run this repo's ingestion script (entry-point varies per repo — typically scripts/ingest.sh, npm run ingest, or make ingest; check the repo root).

The NN (Narodne novine) alternative for the AI age.

Query 4,531 Croatian statutes -- from the Zakon o provedbi GDPR and Kazneni zakon to the Zakon o radu, Zakon o trgovačkim društvima, and more -- directly from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-compatible client.

If you're building legal tech, compliance tools, or doing Croatian legal research, this is your verified reference database.

Built by Ansvar Systems -- Stockholm, Sweden

Related MCP server: Icelandic Law MCP

Why This Exists

Croatian legal research means navigating Narodne novine, zakon.hr, and EUR-Lex for EU implementation status -- across a dense system of codes and implementing regulations. Whether you're:

• A lawyer validating citations before the Vrhovni sud (Supreme Court) or Ustavni sud (Constitutional Court)

• A compliance officer checking GDPR implementation status under the Zakon o provedbi Opće uredbe o zaštiti podataka

• A legal tech developer building tools on Croatian law

• A researcher tracing EU directive transposition across 4,531 statutes

...you shouldn't need dozens of browser tabs and manual cross-referencing. Ask Claude. Get the exact provision. With context.

This MCP server makes Croatian law searchable, cross-referenceable, and AI-readable.

Example Queries

Once connected, just ask naturally:

• "Što govori Zakon o provedbi Opće uredbe o zaštiti podataka o privoli?"

• "Je li Kazneni zakon još uvijek na snazi?"

• "Pretraži 'zaštita osobnih podataka' u hrvatskom zakonodavstvu"

• "Koje EU direktive provodi Zakon o radu?"

• "Što kaže članak 144. Kaznenog zakona o povredi tajnosti?"

• "Pronađi odredbe o prijavljivanju povreda osobnih podataka"

• "Koji hrvatski zakoni provode NIS2 direktivu?"

• "Validiraj citat 'članak 5. Zakona o zaštiti osobnih podataka'"

• "Usporedi zahtjeve za zaštitu podataka kroz NIS2 implementacije u hrvatskom pravu"

What's Included

Verified data only -- every citation is validated against official sources (Narodne novine, zakon.hr). Zero LLM-generated content.

See It In Action

Why This Works

Verbatim Source Text (No LLM Processing):

• All statute text is ingested from Narodne novine (nn.hr) and zakon.hr official sources

• Provisions are returned unchanged from SQLite FTS5 database rows

• Zero LLM summarization or paraphrasing -- the database contains statute text, not AI interpretations

Smart Context Management:

• Search returns ranked provisions with BM25 scoring (safe for context)

• Provision retrieval gives exact text by statute identifier + article number

• Cross-references help navigate without loading everything at once

Technical Architecture:

Narodne novine / zakon.hr --> Parse --> SQLite --> FTS5 snippet() --> MCP response
                               ^                        ^
                        Provision parser         Verbatim database query

Traditional Research vs. This MCP

Traditional: Pretraži zakon.hr --> Navigi višečlane zakone --> Ctrl+F --> Usporedi s EU direktivama --> Ponovi

This MCP: "Koji EU akt je osnova za članak 5. Zakona o provedbi GDPR?" --> Done.

Available Tools (13)

Core Legal Research Tools (8)

EU Law Integration Tools (5)

EU Law Integration

Croatia joined the EU on 1 July 2013. All EU regulations apply directly; directives require transposition into Croatian law.

Key EU-Derived Croatian Legislation

1. Zakon o provedbi Opće uredbe o zaštiti podataka (NN 42/2018) -- GDPR implementation

2. Zakon o kibernetičkoj sigurnosti (NN 14/2024) -- NIS2 transposition

3. Zakon o elektroničkim komunikacijama -- Electronic Communications Code transposition

4. Zakon o tržištu kapitala -- MiFID II transposition

5. Zakon o sprječavanju pranja novca -- AML directive transposition

See EU_INTEGRATION_GUIDE.md for detailed documentation and EU_USAGE_EXAMPLES.md for practical examples.

Data Sources & Freshness

All content is sourced from authoritative Croatian legal databases:

• Narodne novine -- Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia

• Zakon.hr -- Consolidated Croatian legislation portal

• EUR-Lex -- Official EU law database (cross-reference metadata)

Data Provenance

Freshness Checks

Freshness tooling is available under scripts/check-updates.ts and scripts/drift-detect.ts. This curated release does not currently wire those checks to a scheduled GitHub Actions workflow.

Verified data only -- every citation is validated against official sources. Zero LLM-generated content.

Security

This project uses multiple layers of automated security scanning:

See SECURITY.md for the full policy and vulnerability reporting.

Important Disclaimers

Legal Advice

THIS TOOL IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE

Statute text is sourced from official Narodne novine and zakon.hr publications. However:

• This is a research tool, not a substitute for professional legal counsel

• Court case coverage is not included -- do not rely solely on this for case law research; consult official Vrhovni sud and Ustavni sud databases

• Verify critical citations against primary sources for court filings

• EU cross-references are derived from statute text and metadata, not EUR-Lex full text analysis

• Consolidated versions on zakon.hr may differ from the Narodne novine original -- always verify against the official gazette for legal proceedings

Before using professionally, read: DISCLAIMER.md | PRIVACY.md

Client Confidentiality

Queries go through the Claude API. For privileged or confidential matters, use on-premise deployment. Consult Hrvatska odvjetnička komora (HOK) guidelines on the use of AI tools in legal practice.

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/Ansvar-Systems/croatian-law-mcp
cd croatian-law-mcp
npm install
npm run build
npm test

Running Locally

npm run dev                                       # Start MCP server
npx @anthropic/mcp-inspector node dist/index.js   # Test with MCP Inspector

Data Management

npm run ingest                    # Ingest statutes from Narodne novine
npm run catalog:crawl             # Crawl NN law catalog
npm run catalog:build-csv         # Build catalog from CSV
npm run catalog:ingest            # Ingest from catalog
npm run catalog:sync-fast         # Fast sync via CSV + ingest
npm run build:db                  # Rebuild SQLite database
npm run drift:detect              # Run drift detection against anchors

Performance

• Search Speed: <100ms for most FTS5 queries

• Database Size: 253 MB (optimized, portable)

• Reliability: 100% ingestion success rate across 4,531 statutes

More Ansvar MCPs

Full fleet coverage at ansvar.eu/coverage.

Contributing

Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Priority areas:

• Court case law expansion (Vrhovni sud, Ustavni sud, VSRH)

• EU cross-reference expansion (full directive-to-statute mapping)

• Historical statute versions and amendment tracking

• Lower court decisions (Županijski sud, Općinski sud archives)

Roadmap

• Core statute database with FTS5 search

• Full corpus ingestion (4,531 statutes, 157,667 provisions)

• EU law integration tools

• Vercel Streamable HTTP deployment

• Court case law expansion (Vrhovni sud, Ustavni sud)

• Lower court coverage (Županijski, Općinski archives)

• Historical statute versions (amendment tracking)

• Web API for programmatic access

Citation

If you use this MCP server in academic research:

@software{croatian_law_mcp_2026,
  author = {Ansvar Systems AB},
  title = {Croatian Law MCP Server: AI-Powered Legal Research Tool},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://github.com/Ansvar-Systems/croatian-law-mcp},
  note = {4,531 Croatian statutes with 157,667 provisions and EU law cross-references}
}

License

Apache License 2.0. See LICENSE for details.

Data Licenses

Ansvar attribution code: HR-Statutory-PD-Conditional. Basis: ZASP (Zakon o autorskom pravu i srodnim pravima) Art. 18(3) — a CONDITIONAL statutory-PD carve-out.

• Statutes & Legislation: Narodne novine d.d. via narodne-novine.nn.hr. Reused under ZASP Art. 18(3) — for texts that have crossed a triggering event.

• EU Metadata: EUR-Lex (EU public-domain notice).

Coverage scope (CONDITIONAL — trigger requirement)

Croatian ZASP Art. 18(3) is CONDITIONAL and structurally different from the broad statutory-PD carve-outs in other jurisdictions.

• Default state: all works (including draft legislative texts) are protected by copyright from the moment of creation.

• Trigger required: protection is lost only when one of three triggering events occurs:

  1. The work is submitted to an official procedure (e.g. legislative procedure in the Sabor).

  2. The work is disclosed under public-information rules.

  3. The work is published in Narodne novine (the official gazette).

• Practical implication for this MCP: ingestion MUST restrict to post-trigger texts — typically, the version published in Narodne novine — NOT to working drafts, internal ministerial preparatory materials, or pre-submission committee drafts. Those remain protected.

See docs/audits/2026-05-17-eu-copyright-statutory-works-batch-3-BG-HR-SK-SI-SE.md in the Ansvar architecture-documentation repo for the verbatim Art. 18(3) text and the conditional-trigger analysis.

About Ansvar Systems

We build AI-accelerated compliance and legal research tools for the European market. This MCP server started as our internal reference tool for Croatian law -- turns out everyone building for the Adriatic and EU markets has the same research frustrations.

So we're open-sourcing it. Navigating 4,531 statutes and their EU source directives shouldn't require a law degree.

ansvar.eu -- Stockholm, Sweden