Text consolidated by Valsts valodas centrs (State
Language Centre) with amending laws of:
6 November 2013 [shall come
into force from 1 January 2014];
16 January 2014 [shall come into force from 1 February
2014].
If a whole or part of a section has been amended, the
date of the amending law appears in square brackets at
the end of the section. If a whole section, paragraph or
clause has been deleted, the date of the deletion appears
in square brackets beside the deleted section, paragraph
or clause.
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The Saeima1 has adopted and
the President has proclaimed the following Law:
On Compensation
for Restrictions on Economic Activities in Protected
Territories
Chapter I
General Provisions
Section 1. Scope of Application of
this Law
The Law prescribes the conditions for allocating compensation
for restrictions on economic activities (hereinafter -
compensation) in specially protected nature territories and
micro-reserves set up by the State and local governments
(hereinafter - protected territories) and resulting from the
requirements for protection of the protected territories, as well
as the procedures for allocating compensation.
Section 2. Types of Compensation and
Sources of Financing
(1) Compensation for restrictions on agricultural or forestry
activities in protected territories shall be allocated as an
annual support payment.
(2) An annual support payment for restrictions on economic
activities in protected nature territories of European
signficance (Natura 2000) shall be disbursed in accordance
with the procedures laid down in the laws and regulations
regarding allocation of rural development support from the
resources of the relevant European Union funds.
(3) An annual support payment for restrictions on economic
activities in micro-reserves may be disbursed in accordance with
the procedures laid down in the laws and regulations regarding
allocation of rural development support from the resources of the
relevant European Union funds.
(4) Compensation for restrictions on economic activities in
protected territories of national and local significance shall be
allocated from the State or local government budget according to
the funds provided for this purpose in the State or local
government budget. The Cabinet shall issue regulations
determining the restrictions on economic activities eligible for
compensation and its payment conditions, procedures and
scope.
(5) In a protected territory - a nature reserve or a zone of
another protected territory nature reserve, restricted mode or
controlled mode - repurchasing of land may be used as a type of
compensation, however, only for land that has not been built
up.
Section 3. Right of a Land Owner to
Compensation
A land owner in the cases laid down in this Law has the right
to compensation from:
1) the State - for restrictions on economic activities in the
protected territories of State significance;
2) a local government - for restrictions on economic
activities in the protected territories established by the
relevant local government.
Section 4. Institutions Responsible for Disbursement
of Compensation
(1) Disbursement of compensation shall be administered by the
following institutions according to their competence:
1) the Nature Conservation Agency - if in accordance with this
Law the right to compensation from the State budget is granted by
the State;
2) the local government or the institution appointed thereby -
if in accordance with this Law the right to compensation is
granted by the local government.
(2) Compensation which is disbursed from the resources of the
European Union funds, shall be administered in accordance with
the laws and regulations regarding support payments of the
European Union.
Chapter
II
Conditions for Allocation of Compensation
Section 5. General Conditions for
Allocation of Compensation
(1) A land owner whose title to the land has been corroborated
in the Land Register has the right to claim compensation, if the
land boundaries between the properties of several land owners or
legal possessors have been set up in accordance with the
requirements laid down in the laws and regulations regarding
cadastral survey of land and in The Civil Law.
(2) If a land property is owned by several owners,
compensation shall be requested only by all joint land owners
upon mutual agreement.
(3) A land owner may be allocated only one compensation a year
for a particular plot of land in relation to which restrictions
on economic activities have been imposed - from resources of the
European Union funds or from from the State or local government
budget - in accordance with Section 3 of this Law. The land owner
has the right to claim compensation if the forest land area has a
valid forest inventory file in accordance with the laws and
regulations regarding the forest inventory procedures.
(4) Compensation from the State or local government budget
shall not be allocated to direct or indirect administration
authorities and State or local government capital companies.
(5) A land owner's claim for compensation shall be considered
if the immovable property tax has been paid for the previous year
and the current quarter. If a fine has been imposed on a land
owner regarding violations in the field of environment, as well
as if damage has been caused to the environment or the forest as
a result of actions of the land owner, the claim of such land
owner for compensation shall be considered only after paying of
such fines and reimbursement of the losses caused to the
environment and forest by the land owner in accordance with the
procedures laid down in the laws and regulations regarding
violations in the field of environment.
Chapter
III
Land Repurchasing
Section 6. Right to Request Land
Repurchasing
(1) A land owner may request the land to be repurchased,
if:
1) a decision or court adjudication on restoration of the
title to the land that was included in a natural reserve or a
zone of another protected territory natural reserve, restricted
mode or controlled mode before the decision or the court
adjudication entered into effect;
2) the land is included in a natural reserve or a zone of
another protected territory natural reserve, restricted mode or
controlled mode after:
a) a decision to restore the land title has been taken,
b) a contract on repurchasing of the land property has been
concluded in accordance with the laws and regulations governing
privatisation processes,
c) a court adjudication on acquisition of the land has entered
into effect,
d) a written land purchase or other alienation transaction has
been concluded, which has been drawn up as a notarial deed or has
been notarially certified.
(2) An heir to the land may request the land to be
repurchased, if:
1) an inheritance certificate has been received for the
respective land property and the testator had the right to apply
for land repurchasing in accordance with the provisions of this
Law;
2) the land is included in a natural reserve or a zone of
another protected territory natural reserve, restricted mode or
controlled mode after discovery of the inheritance.
(3) The prohibition to divide the land property into land
units smaller than 10 hectares laid down in the laws and
regulations governing the distribution of land units shall not
apply to the land repurchasing.
[16 January 2014]
Section 7. Institutions Responsible
for Land Repurchasing
The repurchasing of land shall be organised by the following
institutions according to their competence (hereinafter -
responsible institutions):
1) the Nature Conservation Agency - if in accordance with this
Law the rights to land repurchasing are exercised by the
State;
2) a local government or the institution appointed thereby -
if in accordance with this Law the rights to land repurchasing
are exercised by a local government.
Section 8. Land Repurchasing Order
(1) Starting from 2015, land that has been included in a
natural reserve or in the zone of another protected territory
natural reserve, restricted mode or controlled mode after
acquisition of the land title shall be repurchased using the
resources allocated for such purpose in the State or local
government budget.
(2) Starting from 2016, land that has been included in a
natural reserve or in the zone of another protected territory
natural reserve, restricted mode or controlled mode, if the title
to such land has been restored taking into account the condition
of Section, 6 Paragraph one, Clause 1 of this Law, shall be
repurchased using the resources allocated for such purpose in the
State or local government budget.
(3) Within the scope of the land owner group referred to in
Paragraphs one and two of this Section, the priority in
repurchasing plots of land shall be given to such plots of land,
which have been received by their owners during land reform as
equivalent plots of land in accordance with the laws and
regulations governing land reform, and plots of land whose owners
have been granted the status of a politically repressed person.
Land from other land owners shall be repurchased in submission
order of applications.
[6 November 2013]
Section 9. Land Repurchasing
Application
(1) An application by a land owner or heir to the responsible
institution shall be the grounds for commencing the land
repurchasing procedure. The following shall be indicated in the
application:
1) the location of the land;
2) the cadastral designation of the land;
3) the given name and surname of the applicant (for a legal
person - the name and registration number);
4) the address and telephone number.
(2) The land owner shall append documents confirming its right
to claim land repurchasing in accordance with Section 6,
Paragraph one of this Law to the application:
1) a decision to restore the land title;
2) a contract regarding repurchasing of the land property
concluded in accordance with the laws and regulations governing
privatisation processes;
3) a court adjudication regarding the acquisition of land into
ownership;
4) a derivative of the land purchase or another alienation
transaction that has been drawn up as a notarial deed or has been
notarially certified.
(3) A land owner shall append documents confirming its right
to claim land repurchasing in accordance with Section 6,
Paragraph two of this Law to the application - a death
certificate or inheritance certificate.
(4) An application may be submitted electronically, if the
electronic document conforms to the requirements laid down the
laws and regulations regarding drawing up of electronic
documents.
(5) The Cabinet shall issue regulations regarding the
procedures for accepting a land repurchasing application.
[16 January 2014]
Section 10. Land Pricing
(1) The responsible institution shall take a decision as to
whether the land repurchasing application is justified. After
taking of the referred-to decision, the responsible institution
shall determine the price of the land in accordance with the Law
On Alienation of the Immovable Property Necessary for Public
Needs. If a land owner agrees to the price, the responsible
institution shall prepare the information which is necessary for
the Cabinet to take a decision to permit the repurchasing of the
land.
(2) If a land owner does not agree with the price, the dispute
shall be resolved in a court in accordance with the Civil
Procedure Law.
Section 11. Repurchasing of a Plot
of Land
After the Cabinet has taken a decision to permit the
repurchasing of land, the responsible institution shall apply the
voluntary alienation procedures laid down in the Law On
Alienation of the Immovable Property Necessary for Public
Needs.
Section 12. Corroboration of the
Title to the Repurchased Land in the Land Register
(1) After entering into a contract the responsible institution
shall submit a corroboration request to the Land Register Office
in order to corroborate the title to the repurchased land.
(2) The repurchased land shall be recorded in the Land
Register in the name of the State in the person of the Ministry
of Environmental Protection and Regional Development or in the
name of the respective local government.
Transitional
Provisions
1. With the coming into force of this Law, the Law On the
Rights of Landowners to Compensation for Restrictions on Economic
Activities in Specially Protected Nature Territories and
Microreserves (Latvijas Republikas Saeimas un Ministru
Kabineta Ziņotājs, 2005, No. 15, 24; 2007, No. 3, 10; 2008,
No. 1, 24; 2009, No. 14; Latvijas Vēstnesis, 2010, No.
144, 205; 2011, No. 201), is repealed.
2. If compensation - payment from the State or local
government budget - covering the financial benefit not acquired
by the land owner due to restrictions on economic activity
imposed by the laws and regulations governing the protection and
use of the protected territories has been received for any forest
stand within the plot of land in accordance with Paragraph 1 of
these Transitional Provisions, and no additional forestry
restrictions have been imposed, the compensation referred to in
Section 2 of this Law for the respective forest stand area shall
not be allocated and the land owner may not apply for
repurchasing of land.
3. For a land owner who has applied for compensation after 31
December 2009 and whose compensation has not been calculated and
disbursed yet, the compensation shall be calculated and disbursed
starting from 2015 if the land owner has not applied to receive
the annual support payment or land repurchasing.
[6 November 2013]
4. Section 2, Paragraph three of this Law on annual support
payments for restrictions on economic activities in
micro-reserves shall come into force as soon as financing from
the resources of the respective European Union funds are
available.
5. The Cabinet shall issue the regulations referred to in
Section 2, Paragraph four and Section 9, Paragraph five of this
Law by 1 September 2013.
This Law shall come into force on 1 June 2013.
This Law has been adopted by the Saeima on 4 April
2013.
President A.Bērziņš
Rīga, 17 April 2013
1 The Parliament of the Republic of
Latvia
Translation © 2014 Valsts valodas centrs (State
Language Centre)
