Statutory and contractual pre-emption right of a tenant of agricultural real estate – selected legal problems

Abstract

The article aimed to determine whether the legal regulations in the field of the statutory and contractual pre-emption right of a tenant of agricultural real estate provide adequate protection to dependent owners in terms of the possibility of acquiring such land and conducting business activity on it. Secondly, the paper indicated legal problems related to statutory and contractual pre-emption right of a tenant of agricultural real estate and suggested how those problems could be handled. In the beginning, the considerations focused on the statutory pre-emption right for agricultural real estate. It referred to a subjective and objective scope of the right in question, and an attempt was made to determine whether the leased land can be sold to a third party due to the obligation to run a farm in person (only the sale contract allows for exercising the pre-emptive right). Failure to perform the indicated obligations might result in the case being referred to the court by the National Center for Agricultural Support. The second part of the article discussed the contractual pre-emption right for agricultural real estate. The author pointed out the possible concurrence of the statutory pre-emption right of the National Support Centre for Agriculture and the contractual pre-emption right of the lessee. The paper also referred to the problems related to implementing this right due to the requirements that the buyer must meet. In summary, the author, among other things, pointed out the fact that the importance of the statutory pre-emption right of the tenant of agricultural real estate had been diminishing over the years. The position of the lessee of agricultural land in terms of purchasing agricultural land is weakening. Currently, in practice, tenants may rarely use the pre-emption right. The author proposed the introduction of a provision to the Act on Shaping the Agricultural System on an additional consent of the National Support Centre for Agriculture for the sale of real estate under a lease.