CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ANNULS SEVERAL PROVISIONS OF LAW ON TEMPORARY TAKEOVER OF PROPERTY

TEMPORARY TAKEOVER OF PROPERTY ZAGREB, Sept 25 (Hina) - The Croatian Constitutional Court on Thursday annulled several provisions of the Law on the Temporary Takeover and Management of Specific Property. Ombudsman Ante Klaric had proposed that the Constitutional Court assess constitutionality of that law, specifically of provisions 2-17, while some Serb organisations and members of Parliament demanded the whole law be declared unconstitutional. In a detailed explanation of today's decision, the Constitutional Court stated that proposals for annulling the law in its entirety were unfounded. The court recalled that the law had been passed on 21 September 1995, soon after the liberation of large areas of Croatia under Serb occupation, when most of the population fled those areas leaving behind most of their property, which remained exposed to damage and even looting. The court said that because of the temporary or permanent departure from Croatian territory, citizens of Croatia could not be denied using their property as envisaged under article 8 of the contested law. Article 9, which stipulates that a person temporarily using property which is to be returned to its original owner cannot be dispossessed of it until he is provided other accommodation by the Commission for the Temporary Takeover and Use of Property, was declared unconstitutional. Also declared unconstitutional was article 11, which stipulates that the use of property will be regulated by an agreement on the normalisation of relations between Croatia and Yugoslavia, because it put one group of citizens at a disadvantage over other citizens. The court rejected a proposal by the Serb Democratic Forum to pass a ruling on the suspension of all activities based on that law, arguing that all legal preconditions for that had not been met. (hina) vm mm 251934 MET sep 97