The preemption right on agricultural land in Slovenia: past developments and future challenges

Abstract

The paper outlines statutory preemption rights relating to agricultural land in Slovenia, in particular the priority right to purchase agricultural land which is regulated by the Agricultural Land Act. This preemption right has a general scope and a long tradition (of nearly 60 years). In the previous legal system, based on the social ownership as basic ownership form, the statutory preemption right on agricultural land was first introduced for agricultural organisations and later also for private farmers (who were ranked after agricultural organisations). At first, the preemption right related only to privately owned agricultural land and had a limited impact for farmers due to agricultural land maximum. After the agricultural land maximum was abolished in the beginning of the 1990s and the statutory preemption right was extended to all agricultural land, the development has been characterised by endeavours to make the statutory preemption right more efficient in practice and consistent with the principle that restrictions the legislator imposes on the constitutionally guaranteed private property must be in public interest and proportional. A Draft Act launched for public consultation in spring 2019 foresaw several substantial changes of the statutory preemption right linking this right more closely to farm structure improvement and overall agricultural policy, but has not been further elaborated after the consultation was closed in May 2019.