In a case handled by advocate Maciej Obrębski and attorney-at-law Artur Pietruszka, the Supreme Administrative Court (Naczelny Sąd Administracyjny) set aside the judgment of the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw and the adverse administrative decision of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The proceedings seeking a declaration that the property did not fall within the scope of Article 2(1)(e) of the Decree of the Polish Committee of National Liberation on the implementation of agrarian reform were discontinued by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. This decision was upheld by the Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw.
The reason for this outcome was the absence of a specific letter designation within Article 2(1) of the PKWN Decree. This most likely resulted from an error made by an official nearly 80 years ago—an issue that has affected many properties in Śrem County.
Thanks to the Law Firm’s actions, a final and binding judgment of the Regional Court in Poznań was obtained, confirming that the manor-and-park complex located in Śrem County—constituting the pre-war property of our client’s family—did not fall within the scope of Article 2(1)(a), (b), (c) or (d) of the Decree.
That judgment became the basis for the Supreme Administrative Court to set aside both the first-instance court’s judgment and the administrative decisions issued in the case. This means that the administrative authorities will now have to decide the matter on its merits, i.e., determine whether the takeover of the clients’ family estate complied with the “area norm” provided for in the PKWN Decree.
The Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling therefore confirms that the path to obtaining compensation for property lost in the post-war years remains open.
As this case demonstrates, obtaining a declaration that a property was not subject to agrarian reform requires proceedings that are procedurally complex and demand specialist expertise in civil, administrative and agricultural law, as well as thorough archival research. Our Law Firm has extensive experience in this area.