The Saeima¹ has adopted and
the President has proclaimed the following law:

On the Return of Immovable Properties to Academic Lifelong Organisations

Section 1. The following terms are used in the Law:

1) academic lifelong organisations - male and female student corporations, academic units, unions, concordia, and other associations in which members are admitted for lifetime, the associations of their philisters and senior members, and also societies of the abovementioned organisations;

2) property objects of academic lifelong organisations - immovable properties (land, buildings) of such organisations which belonged to them on 17 June 1940.

Section 2. The laws, decrees, decisions, orders, and other laws and regulations adopted during the time period from 17 June 1940 until 4 May 1990 regarding closing of academic lifelong organisations and alienation of the property objects thereof are repealed.

Section 3. (1) The ownership rights to objects which have been alienated on the basis of the acts referred to in Section 2 of this Law, except for the cases which are referred to in Section 12 of the law On Land Reform in the Cities of the Republic of Latvia, Section 12 of the law On Land Reform in the Rural Areas of the Republic of Latvia, Section 2, Paragraphs two and three of the law On the Denationalisation of Building Properties in the Republic of Latvia, and Section 6 of the law On Return of Building Properties to Lawful Owners Thereof shall be restored to academic lifelong organisations.

(2) The ownership rights to land shall not be restored if, during the process of the land reform, the former land property of an academic lifelong organisation has been granted for permanent use to a natural person or has been granted into the ownership to a natural person for remuneration, or has been granted into the ownership to a natural or legal person as an equal land instead of the land which was in the ownership thereof previously.

(3) The ownership rights to a building property shall not be subject to restoration if it concerns lawful interests of the third parties (the building has been subject to privatisation, reconstruction, or general overhaul has been commenced after 1 June 1994).

Section 4. The composition of a property object of an academic lifelong organisation shall be determined according to the property composition recorded in the documents attesting the property. If there are no such documents or they have not survived in full, and also in case of dispute, the composition of the property object shall be established by a court.

Section 5. An academic lifelong organisation which concurrently conforms to the following conditions has the right to regain an illegally alienated property object:

1) it was registered with the Department of Press and Associations of the Ministry of Social Affairs of the Republic of Latvia until 17 June 1940;

2) according to a court judgment is the successor in rights and obligations of such academic lifelong organisation to which the relevant property object belonged;

3) was registered with the Ministry of Justice until 1 January 1995 in accordance with the procedures laid down in the law On Public Organisations and Associations Thereof.

Section 6. (1) The grounds for the examination of an issue on the return of the property objects of academic lifelong organisations shall be the application of the relevant organisation which must be submitted to a city council or rural territory council according to the location of the property within one year after coming into force of this Law.

(2) The ownership rights of an academic lifelong organisation must be proven by the deeds of the Land Registers and other documents, but if such documents have not survived - with a court judgment.

(3) Return of immovable properties to academic lifelong organisations shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures which are laid down in this Law and laws On Land Reform in the Cities of the Republic of Latvia, On Land Reform in the Rural Areas of the Republic of Latvia, and On Return of Building Properties to Lawful Owners Thereof.

Section 7. After receipt of all the necessary documents, a city council or rural territory council shall, within three months, examine an application and take the decision to return the property object or to refuse to restore the ownership rights.

Section 8. Academic lifelong organisations are not entitled to request a fee from the previous possessor for the use of the property object to be returned until restoration of the ownership rights. Previous possessors are not entitled to request compensation for the maintenance of the property object.

Section 9. The right of present tenants of the buildings to be returned to academic lifelong organisations are protected in accordance with the procedures laid down in the law On the Denationalisation of Building Properties in the Republic of Latvia.

Section 10. (1) Disputes regarding return of immovable properties to academic lifelong organisations shall be examined by a court.

(2) Academic lifelong organisations shall be exempted from the State fee and court expenditures in cases regarding recovery of illegally alienated immovable properties.

The Law has been adopted by the Saeima on 28 November 1996.

President G. Ulmanis

Rīga, 10 December 1996

¹ The Parliament of the Republic of Latvia

Translation © 2022 Valsts valodas centrs (State Language Centre)