Acquisitive prescription of a decree building* is admissible

On 23 May 2013 the Supreme Court overturned an order issued by the Regional Court in Warsaw and referred back to this Court for re-examination a high-profile case concerning the State Treasury's acquisitive prescription of a decree building at Pl. Dąbrowskiego/ul. Kredytowa in Warsaw.

In this case (I CSK 619/12), in which DZP has represented one of the participants (a leading publishing company) for many years, the Supreme Court upheld the stance taken earlier in a judgment of 17 April 2008 (I CSK 500/07) which was also obtained with DZP's help. In the Supreme Court's opinion, there are no legal obstacles to acquisitive prescription, including acquisitive prescription by the State Treasury, of a decree building (only the building). The Supreme Court also pointed out the need to rigorously examine circumstances of force majeure related to the general social and political situation in the period prior to 1989 as a potential premise for suspending the running of the acquisitive prescription period.

The case was handled at DZP by Lech Żyżylewski and Piotr Gołaszewski from our Real Estate Practice, specialising in, inter alia, reprivatisation issues.

*A decree building/land is a building/land taken over by the Warsaw Municipality under the Decree on the Ownership and Use of Land in the Area of the Capital City of Warsaw of 26 October 1945 ("Warsaw Decree").