One more case initiated with respect to a norm that defines the amount of payment for legal use of land
On 28 June 2022, the 4th Panel of the Constitutional Court initiated the case “On Compliance of Section 38 (2) of the Law “On the Date of Entering into Force and the Procedure of Application of Introduction and Parts of Inheritance Law and Property Law of the Restored Civil Law of the Republic of Latvia of 1937” with the First and the Third Sentence of Article 105 of the Satversme of the Republic of Latvia”.
The Contested Norms
Section 38 (2) of the Law “On the Date of Entering into Force and the Procedure of Application of Introduction and Parts of Inheritance Law and Property Law of the Restored Civil Law of the Republic of Latvia of 1937” (hereafter – the contested norm) provides: “On the basis of the law, the owner of the building shall be obliged to pay a user fee to the land owner for the right to use the land. The amount of the payment for the legal use of land shall be four percent of the cadastral value of the land in use annually, but not less than EUR 50 euros annually. The owner of the building and the owner of the land can agree in writing on another amount of the payment for use. Such an agreement does not bind the acquirer of immovable property when the owner of the building or land changes.”
Norms of Higher Legal Force
The first and the third sentence of Article 105 of the Satversme: “Everyone has the right to own property.”, Property rights may be restricted only in accordance with law.”
The Facts
The case has been initiated on the basis of an application by Iveta Šēnhofa (hereafter – the Applicant).
The Applicant owns immovable property – a plot of land. A building, owned by another person, is located on this plot of land, the building is used for commercial activities.
The Applicant holds that Section 38 (2) of the contested law, by envisaging the amount of payment for the use of land as four percent from the cadastral value of the land in use annually, causes infringement upon the Applicant’s fundamental rights, included in the first and the third sentence of Article 105 of the Satversme. Namely, this norm restricts the Applicant’s right to use her property and also gain financial benefit from it.
Legal Proceedings
- The term for preparing the case is 28 November 2022.
The Court shall decide on the procedure and date for hearing the case after the case is prepared.
The decision on initiation of the case is available here.
Press release in PDF is available here.
Linked case: 2022-24-01