A case on the rights of joint owners has been initiated
The First Panel of the Constitutional Court has initiated a case “On Compliance of the First Part of Section 1068 of the Civil Law with Article 105 of the Satversme of the Republic of Latvia”.
The applicant, JSC “Pilsētas zemes dienests” indicates that it owns an undivided share in several land properties; moreover, residential houses owned by other persons are located on these land properties. This serves as the ground for the so-called compulsory lease relations; however, owners of the above mentioned buildings neither have concluded any agreements with the owners, nor do they pay any rent. The applicant has tried to effect conclusion of lease agreements by means of litigation; however it has failed. Judgments of the court are substantiated by Section 1068 of the Civil Law that provides, among the rest, that using of the entire the subject-matter of the joint ownership or a part thereof is permitted only based on consent of all the joint owners. Consequently, the norm prohibits a joint owner to lease the undivided share of immovable property owned by him or her and gain incomes.
The applicant holds that the contested norm is outdated and non-proportional. When the norm was adopted, no undivided property shares or compulsory land lease relations existed. In the application, several situations when reaching of consent of all the joint owners regarding concluding of a compulsory land lease agreement is impossible are described, for instance, if joints owners are not known. In such a case, none of the joint owners can gain any income from the property owned by him or her. This does not, however, release them from the duty to bear charges on joint property. Consequently, the contested norm is non-proportional and infringes the property right of the applicant, this right being established in Article 105 of the Satversme.
The Saeima (Parliament) was asked to provide, before 7 March 2011, a reply on factual circumstances of the case and legal justification thereof. The term of preparation of the case is 5 June 2011.
Linked case: 2011-01-01