Can someone take away my private property against my will?
The answer is yes. This can be done by public authorities (at the level of the Republic, province, municipality or city, or public companies) in a procedure called expropriation. If the public authorities plan that a road, railway, substation, transmission line or the like should pass through your property, they have the right to take possession of you to the extent necessary to accomplish such a plan. The subject of confiscation can be a field, a plot, but also a house, regardless of whether you live in it or not. The implementation of the plan is declared to be in the public interest, which prevails over anyone’s private interest.
Am I entitled to compensation?
Of course, public authorities have the obligation to pay market compensation to the owner (or co-owners) for confiscated real estate. The municipal or city administrative body first offers the owner a certain fee, based on the assessment of the Tax Administration. In practice, however, the offered amount usually does not correspond to the market amount. An unsatisfied owner may not accept such an offer, in which case the decision on the amount of compensation is made by the court in non-litigation proceedings. The decision on the amount of compensation in court proceedings is made on the basis of the findings and opinions of experts in the construction profession, and as a rule, this amount is higher than the one originally offered.
Are buildings or plants on the plot taken into account?
When determining the compensation for confiscated real estate, the value of the buildings on the plot is also taken into account. These can be houses, auxiliary buildings, sheds, fences, wells and the like. Their value is also assessed by an expert in the construction profession. In addition to buildings, the value of perennial crops (which can be fruit trees, vegetable crops, cereals, etc.) is also taken into account, the value of which is assessed by an expert in the agricultural profession.
What is the so-called incomplete expropriation?
Public authorities can also establish a right of way or a lease on a private plot, and in order to e.g. parking of machines needed for work, disposal of sand, gravel, soil and the like. During the temporary occupation of the plot, the owner has the right to rent.
What is the so-called actual expropriation?
Sometimes the public authorities start or completely carry out certain construction works without having previously formally carried out the expropriation procedure. In other words, they violated someone’s property right, and did not pay any compensation for it. In practice, as a rule, such cases do not occur during the execution of large construction projects such as the construction of highways or railways, but most often when a municipality or city builds local roads, installs poles, transformer stations, power lines, and the like. The owner has the right to compensation at the market price as if the expropriation procedure had been carried out. Also, in practice there are cases of actual incomplete expropriation (unpaid temporary occupation of the plot).
Danilo Babić- lawyer in Novi Sad
