Investigation of claims for compensation for planning damage

There is a two-stage process for pursuing planning damage claims. At the first stage, the claim must be made to the entity responsible for the damage. Most often this entity is the municipality, exceptionally it may be the entity in charge of the closed area. The notification of the claim to the liable entity consists of a request for performance. The legislator does not require that the demand be made in writing, but for the purposes of evidence, it is advisable to keep the ordinary written form (i.e. the form of a letter with a handwritten signature). The summons shall indicate the basis of the claims (the type of claim being asserted, the local zoning plan that caused the impairment of the property right), the designation of the property affected by the local plan and the amount of the asserted claim or the price for the redemption of the property right. If the parties fail to reach an agreement at the pre-court stage, it remains for the aggrieved party to take the claim to court.

Pre-judicial stage

The pre-court stage is initiated by a summons addressed by the injured party to the entity responsible for the damage. This summons is referred to by the legislator as an “application”. This term can be misleading, as the summons does not initiate any administrative proceedings. The obligation to remedy the planning damage is of a strictly civil law nature. The body to which the request is addressed does not issue an administrative decision, but merely takes a position on the request made by the aggrieved party. The responsible entity has a status equivalent to that of the injured party, as it does not exercise planning authority.
At the pre-litigation stage, the liable entity may commission actions to verify whether the injured party is indeed entitled to a claim and possibly in what amount.
Six months after the request for performance has been addressed, the liable party falls into delay and is obliged to pay statutory interest thereon if the injured party proves that the claim he is asserting exists.
In practice, most often the pre-court stage ends with a (unfounded or otherwise) refusal to comply.

Judicial stage

The judicial stage is initiated by the injured party filing an action in the ordinary court.
The initiation of an action is admissible even if the injured party has not previously issued a formal notice of claim to the liable party. An action brought without the pre-litigation stage shall not be dismissed as inadmissible.
Legal status as at 26.06.2024