The Senate at a plenary session on May 28 passed the Procedures for Seizure of Land Plots for Public Needs with Compensation Bill, as well as amendments to a number of legislative acts “in connection with the improvement of the system for ensuring equality and transparency in land relations, reliable protection of land rights and their transformation into a marketable asset.
The Bill was developed by the Ministry of Justice and put up for discussion in April last year. In December 2020, amendments were made to the Land Code, according to which the decision to withdraw land is made by the councils of people's deputies after discussion with the owners, and demolition is possible only after full payment of compensation for real estate.
The Ministry of Justice called the future law a document of direct effect. It is aimed at strengthening the protection of the rights of land owners, should introduce an exhaustive list of specific grounds for seizure, complicate procedures and establish “unprecedented standards” for the transparency of the process, the Ministry of Justice reported at the time.
Chairwoman of the Senate Tanzila Narbayeva announced at the plenary session the findings of a survey conducted among the population on land қушягку and compensation.
“I would like to give some figures. According to the national index of the rule of law regarding the inviolability of the right to private property in 2020, government agencies identified 617 violations of the law,” she said. More than 20,000 people took part in the survey on the inviolability of private property. Of the respondents, 35% were faced with the seizure of land for state public needs, 45% of respondents stated that the practice of land seizure in their territory is not carried out in accordance with the law, 29.5% of participants indicated that they did not receive sufficient compensation, 6.5% - that they did not receive compensation at all, the head of the Senate pointed out.
“The population is growing, territories are developing, new districts and cities are being created. Life requires the development of socio-economic infrastructure: the construction of public buildings, roads, bridges - all this is also included in the needs of the population. Therefore, these issues need to be considered. This law will not only strengthen the rights of citizens to land, but also ensure openness, transparency and fairness in the withdrawal of land belonging to them for public needs,” said Tanzila Narbayeva.
“The Procedures for Seizure of Land Plots for Public Needs with Compensation Bill will put an end to the tormenting people of unauthorized seizures of land and demolitions by state organizations,” Tanzila Narbayeva wrote in her Telegram channel.
The new law will establish procedures for the seizure for public needs of a land plot or part of it owned by individuals and legal entities on the basis of ownership, permanent use or temporary use, and the provision of compensation to the right holders of this land plot and real estate objects located on it. A list of circumstances on the basis of which the seizure is made has been fixed, and a ban has been introduced to interpret the seizure of land plots for any other purposes as a seizure for public needs.
