1961 general master plan for Warsaw applied

DZP, representing one of the largest banks operating in Poland, wins a case for the reprivatisation of real estate at ul. Wolska in Warsaw. By way of a judgment of 6 February 2013 the Supreme Administrative Court overturned a judgment passed by the Voivodship Administrative Court in Warsaw that was unfavourable for our client and referred the case back to the Court for re-examination.

This SAC judgment (I OSK 1643/11) is of key significance. Having exhaustively analysed the problem the Supreme Administrative Court, broadly justifying its stance, came to the conclusion that the 1961 general master plan for Warsaw applied. The findings in the plan therefore gave grounds for a decision to be issued based on the provisions of the Warsaw Decree of 1945. This outcome shows a fundamental change in case law as to date the prevailing stance was that the 1961 plan did not apply, which in turn gave grounds for referring to the general plan of 1931 dating back to before the II World War.

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