Formation of legal regulation of land relations in Poland (1919–1921)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the historical and legal analysis of the problems of formation of legal regulation of land relations inPoland (1919–1921).The first important normative legal acts of Poland concerning the legal regulation of land relations are analyzed, in particular theLand Law of 1920 and the Constitution of 1921. It is noted that the Law on Land Reform, adopted on July 15, 1920, consisted of threeparts: 1) Land stock (Articles 1-5); 2) Compulsory redemption and redemption price (Articles 6-22); 3) parcelling (Articles 23–37). Thelaw of 1920 provided for: 1) an increase in the amount of land subject to alienation and intended for parcelling and settlement; 2) divisionof all state and state-acquired lands from its former owners; 3) compensation for landed and ecclesiastical lands that exceeded themaximum norm, in the amount of half of their average market price (Article 13); 4) forced redemption of movable and immovable agriculturalequipment (it should be noted that agricultural buildings were purchased at a price as of August 1, 1914, ie at the beginning ofthe First World War; the owner of several estates had the right to keep no more than one estate – Article 2 and 14); 5) the possibility ofobtaining a loan to purchase land in the amount of up to 75% of the value of the site; 6) the provision of land primarily to non-agriculturaland small farmers, with priority for war invalids and farm workers (Article 29); 7) transfer of the state parcelling fund to the disposalof the Main Land Administration – a special body for the implementation of land reform (Article 4); 8) deprivation of the rightto land of peasants who evaded military service and / or participated in the occupation of agricultural lands (this, in fact, applied toUkrainians in Galicia who opposed the Polish government). It was established that the following were subject to forced redemption:1) lands “unfairly” distributed before the revival of the Polish state (as we understand, this also refers to lands that the government ofthe Western Ukraine began to distribute as a result of its own reform);2) arbitrarily parceled lands without the permission of the competent authorities; 3) land acquired in the period from August 1,1914 to September 14, 1919 by persons for whom agriculture was not a professional occupation; 4) land appropriated for the purposeof usurious profits; 5) lands that have changed their owner more than twice during the war, except in the case of the death of the owneror the transfer of a plot for road construction; 6) land necessary for the livelihood of cities and industrial centers; 7) abandoned anduncultivated lands.