Legal-comparative aspects of expropriations on the example of legal regulations in Georgia and Poland

Abstract

In both the countries, i.e. Poland and Georgia, administrative bodies carry out expropriations not only on the basis of individual administrative acts, in accordance with the classic concept of expropriation, but also through planning acts. Derogation from this right in whole or in part is therefore a consequence of legal action of the administration. In the case of expropriation, deprivation of property may in fact “result from actions by the state which, although not directly aimed at depriving the owner of its property rights (in other words, as a result of which the owner does not lose their legal title to the property), yet they have the same effect, not only in fact, but also in law, as expropriation in the formal sense” . However, such significant public interference is not considered expropriation and is therefore not accompanied by any adequate compensation. In its jurisprudence, the European Court of Human Rights regularly emphasises that in order to assess whether an expropriation has taken place, one should rely not only on formal but also material considerations, and the limitation on the possibility of exercising this right by the local spatial development plan meets the conditions for interference with the ownership of real estate within the meaning of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights.