Acquisition and expropriation of real property for the public benefit in Slovenia

Abstract

Public acquisition and expropriation are the feasibilities of the state or local governments to acquire real property, where the increased benefit for the society is legally recognized. In spite of the commitment of market economies to the inviolability of private property, both approaches are well known in market economies and are topics of several international discussions. In particular this has been of importance in the former planned economies, where private ownership has become a fundamental issue. The rules concerning compulsory transfers of real property are different among the countries, but similar in concept. The dissimilarities can be found in the conditions on which transfers are carried out and in relation to compensation assigned to the property owner. This paper reviews the possible ways of real property acquisition with the stated purpose of establishing public benefit in Slovenia. The first step in the process of real property acquisition for the public benefit in Slovenia is real property purchase, where an agreement for compensation is to be achieved. Expropriation is used as the last resort where a real property is acquired without the consent of its owner and the compensation is usually based on the economic loss as the direct effect from the real property acquisition.