WERE OWNERS OF UNCLASSIFIED ROADS (HOWEVER) DE FACTO EXPROPRIATED BY THE ROADS ACT 2011?
Keywords:
public roads; unclassified roads; de facto expropriation; compensation; statute of limitations.Abstract
When the Roads Act came into force in 2011, its provisions specified that
unclassified roads are to become public good in general usage in inalienable property
of municipalities on which territory they lie. Of course, the question arose whether
de facto expropriation of landowners of real estate of which unclassified roads are
made of was carried out by this Act. The Constitutional Court of the Republic of
Croatia took the view, in its decision in the procedure in which the constitutionality
of the Roads Act was challenged, that the disputed provisions of this Act are only of
legal-technical character and that they did not establish ownership over unclassified
roads. This legal question is of paramount importance for (previous) owners because
it is important (and) in the context of determination whether the statute of limitations
for claims for compensation for de facto expropriation has expired. In the paper the
author critically analyzes the decision of the Constitutional Court and finds that it is
flawed, namely the author establishes that the Roads Act truly established ownership
over unclassified roads and that the disputed provisions that were the subject of
constitutional control did not have mere legal-technical character. In this context, the
author finds that de facto expropriation was indeed carried out by the Roads Act and
that coming into force of this Act should be observed as the moment from which the
statute of limitations for claims for compensation for expropriation carried out by it
began to run.
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- 2023-12-20 (2)
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