September Is Spanish History Month
Property Costa Blanca News – LRAU ('land grab law')-Update September 2006
Since the launch of its intention take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg challenging land grab "Valencian" Law (LRAU) in November 2005, lawyers Irwin Mitchell have produced more than seventy inquiries from potential applicants.
The surprising small number of applicants against a law that has affected potentially thousands, is mainly due to the obligation of the aggrieved land owners have to deal with compensation effect through the Spanish courts before being eligible to file their claims under the ECHR (European Convention on Human Rights)
The fact that any action against the law, has been successful, (To our knowledge, to date), combined with the necessity for an appeal in a dispute of property that has been brought before the Spanish courts in the six months after the loss to the owner of the land, calls into question whether the great majority of people who have suffered economic losses due to the LRAU see provided compensation.
The case is awaiting a hearing date sometime in the next two years.
History LRAU (Act Regulatory Urbanistica)
The LRAU was presented by the Valencian authorities in the Community 1994 to facilitate the development of rural areas in the region urban communities.
Its impact was soon felt by property owners in rural areas of the Costa Blanca, Costa Calida and Costa Azahar who were in the position of having their land "confiscated interest in the" public "and many also being billed large amounts of money to pay cost of developing new infrastructure.
It soon became clear that the expropriation of land from existing owners and the perception of infrastructure costs for the owners was openly abused by private developers who were seen openly acting as agents of the government.
Problems within the law lies in several areas, but at least not in the lack of definition of 'public interest'. This is the justification for the expropriation of land private property that has been used successfully to circumvent any remedy in the Spanish courts and allowed developers to gain, 'the private interest. "
Other areas of interest highlighted, finally, the European Parliament in December 2005. These include the basis on which the Ubanistor " or the developer was selected, the lack of adequate procedures for the award of the contract and the need for appropriate procedures for notifying owners land so that their communication on an individual basis, effective and timely development of any proposals affecting them, which would give them sufficient time to consider appropriate action.
In February 2006 the Valencian authorities LRAU replace with a new law that regulates the development of rural land. The LUV, (Valencia Ubanistica Act). The new law while addressing some of the issues yet to address many of the concerns raised by the European Parliament last December.
The case has been taken up by British law firm Irwin Mitchell and Monckton Chambers three lawyers, Piers Gardner, Ian Rogers and Ben Rayment.
The case to be taken to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg will be based on Article 1 of Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees the right to property.
The case, which normally would be too costly for private individuals to carry the court has been made possible by the provision by the law firm of a conditional fee agreement (CFA), which limits the liability of costs to individual claimants to enable aggrieved parties to participate in the action, without fear of huge costs.
Potential claimants can contact Irwin Mitchell 00 44 0870 1500 100
About the Author
Neil Ebsworth is co-founder of AMLAspain.com, a
Costa Blanca property MLS
portal for the Real Estate industry in Spain.