Development of soil communities again. Amendment with the President's signature

President Andrzej Duda signed an amendment to the Act on the development of land communities – the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland said on Thursday. The amendment will allow such communities – in the event of a public administration body of a defective decision – apply for compensation.

The land communities are a relic of ownership relations arising in the 19th century in the areas of former Russian and Austrian partitions as a result of the liquidation of serfdom. They are common land for a given village, in which individual farmers have shares depending on the area of ​​their farms.

The amendment provides for the amendment to the Act on the development of land communities of 1963. It will allow for in the event of a public administration body a defective decision regarding land communities, you could apply for compensation.

During the work on the Act, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Jacek Czerniak explained that compensation would not be granted from the machine, and the fact that it is entitled to prove in court. Compensation is to be paid from the state budget.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture (on January 1, 2024), approx. 6.5 thousand land communities covered over 82,000 ha The communities have mainly forest land (60 percent), the others are agricultural land; There are about 2.5 thousand in their area. buildings, including 14 percent – These are residential houses. Communities are located in 10 voivodships.

According to estimates, the total amount of compensation spread over many years can be PLN 1.5-2 billion.

On the basis of the current provisions of the Act on the development of land communities, after 5 years from the date on which the decision became final, it cannot be annulled or even state that it was issued in violation of the law. Therefore, it is not possible to claim the liability of public authorities for damages caused by the final administrative decision. It is about decisions: determining which real estate constitutes a land community, on determining the list of those entitled to participate in the land community and the list of farms they owned and the size of their shares in the community. (PAP)

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