 Croatia is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic . Following the collapse of the ruling Communist League , Croatia adopted a new constitution in 1990 – which replaced the 1974 constitution adopted by the Socialist Republic of Croatia – and organised its first multi @-@ party elections . While the 1990 constitution remains in force , it has been amended four times since its adoption — in 1997 , 2000 , 2001 and 2010 . Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia on 8 October 1991 , which led to the breakup of Yugoslavia . Croatia 's status as a country was internationally recognised by the United Nations in 1992 . Under its 1990 constitution , Croatia operated a semi @-@ presidential system until 2000 when it switched to a parliamentary system . Government powers in Croatia are divided into legislative , executive and judiciary powers . The legal system of Croatia is civil law and , along with the institutional framework , is strongly influenced by the legal heritage of Austria @-@ Hungary . By the time EU accession negotiations were completed on 30 June 2010 , Croatian legislation was fully <unk> with the Community <unk> . 
