Decentralization reform: land law aspect

Abstract

In Ukraine, the reform of decentralization of power has been going on since 2014 – the transfer of a significant part of powers,finances, other resources and responsibilities from the state power as close as possible to the people – local governments.
 The process of voluntary association of territorial communities and formation of capable united territorial communities belongsto the same sphere. The issue of formation of the inseparable territory of OTG (requirement of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “OnVoluntary Association of Territorial Communities”) in the aspect of transfer of a significant part of state-owned lands to communal onesis still relevant, insufficiently regulated by law.It is absolutely necessary to analyze modern judicial practice. in cases related to the redistribution of state and communal landsduring decentralization, as it indicates the shortcomings of current legislation in this area. One of the tasks set by the Concept ofReforming Local Self-Government and Territorial Organization of Government is to determine a reasonable territorial basis for theactivities of local self-government bodies and executive bodies capable of ensuring the availability and proper quality of public servicesprovided by such bodies.Ways of transfer of lands to communal ownership are succession, methods of acquisition provided by item 5 of Art. 83 of theLand Code, transition to communal ownership of collectively owned lands in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Amendmentsto Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning Resolving the Issue of Collective Land Ownership, Improving Land Use Rules inAgricultural Land, Preventing Raids and Stimulating Irrigation in Ukraine”. Today, the so-called land audit, which differs significantlyfrom the land inventory and is carried out by non-governmental organizations on a commercial or grant basis, helps territorial communitiesto collect land “in a heap”.At the same time, the main, initial basis for the transfer of land to the ownership of territorial communities should be a largescaleone-time delimitation of state-owned land on land that remains in state ownership and land that becomes communal property.This is one of the tasks of the Draft Law № 2194 “On Amendments to the Land Code of Ukraine and Other Legislative Acts toImprove the System of Management and Deregulation in the Sphere of Land Relations”.