A case on the amount of fee for the use of land has been initiated
A case was initiated in the Constitutional Court on compliance of words “four percent” in the second part of the second sentence of Section 38 and paragraph 7 of Section 42 of the Law on the Time Period of Coming into Force and the Procedures for the Application of the Introduction, Parts on Inheritance Rights and Property Rights of the Renewed Civil Law of 1937 of the Republic of Latvia with the Article 1 and the first and third sentence of the Article 105 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia.
The contested provisions provide that the amount of the fee for lawful use of land shall be four percent of the annual cadastral value of the land in use and provide that increase of the fee for land use in relation to owners of residential buildings will be restricted from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2028.
The applicant owns land on which several multi-apartment residential houses are located with privatised apartments belonging to other persons. In the opinion of the applicant, the contested provisions significantly decrease income gained by the land owner from the property he or she owns. Remuneration of four percent from the annual cadastral value of the land in use cannot be seen as such that would perform the function of remuneration. Considering the previous judgements of the Constitutional Court, the applicant allegedly had reasonable and justified right to rely on the fact that such a restriction as is included in the contested provisions would not be implemented. Thus, the applicant considers that her fundamental rights included in the Article 1 and the first and third sentence of the Article 105 of the Constitution have been violated.
The Constitutional Court invited the institution that has issued the contested law – the Saeima – to submit to the Constitutional Court a reply with the explanation of the actual circumstances of the case and the legal basis by 24 September 2024. The deadline for the preparation of the case is 24 December 2024. The Court will decide on the procedure and date for hearing the case once the case is prepared.
The related Case No. 2024-21-01
Linked case: 2024-21-01