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Compulsory Purchase Seminar
03/07/2008 An international seminar on the hot topic of compulsory purchase compensation in Poland was held at the Radisson Hotel in Warsaw on 3 July 2008. The seminar was hosted by the Ministry of Infrastructure and organized jointly by The Polish Federation of Valuers' Associations (PFVA) and The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in conjunction also with the University of Lodz. The seminar was attended by 120 participants including valuers, lawyers, ministry officials and top academics involved in the compulsory purchase acquisition and valuation process. The keynote speaker was Mr Olgierd Dziekonski, Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Infrastructure who outlined the direction of proposed changes to the compulsory purchase law in Poland geared towards the simplification of the current system. The Ministry was also well represented by officials tasked with the responsibility for drafting the new regulations. The seminar focused on several major issues relating to the compulsory purchase process. These included the question of whether compensation should be established on the basis of „current” or „highest and best” use of the acquired property. Some presentations dealt with the problem of the frequent misinterpretation of the notion of „public use”. It is not clear whether for example the development of libraries and wind turbine plants should be classified as as public use investments. Presentations by two guest speakers from the United Kingdom, namely Emrys Parry (an eminent lawyer, partner of Bond Pearce and specialist in compulsory purchase compensation law) and Geoff Fisher (Vice President, Institute of Revenues, Rating and Valuation and Property Consultant at Strettons, London, UK) aroused particular interest due to the fact that both Poland and the UK are involved in the preparation of EURO 2012 and the Olympics Games 2012 respectively. The British speakers shared their rich experience of compulsory purchase cases over many years in the UK market. Of interest to Polish valuers was the mentioned fact that the compulsory purchase procedures in the UK are not significantly shorter than in Poland. However, in the UK it is possible to commence a public investment on a property before the legal title to that property is transferred to the acquiring authority and before the amount of compensation is established. In this way the process is accelerated. Furthermore, of particular surprise to Polish valuers, was the description of the UK practice of each side appointing its own valuer to „negotiate” the compensation. Only subsequently, if agreement is not reached and the dispute is referred to the Lands Tribunal do the valuers become „expert witnesses” with a duty to impartially assist the Tribunal. In contrast, in Poland, a valuer is typically instructed by the acquiring authority as an independent valuer afforded „public trust” status, to prepare a valuation report right at the beginning of the process prior to any discussions with the property owner. Professor Andrzej Hopfer, President of The Polish Federation of Valuers Associations (PFVA) in summing up explained that debate during the day had been well recorded and the issues raised will be subject to further analysis by the Federation. He raised the expectation that thereafter there would be noteworthy changes to the current compulsory purchase code in Poland. He expressed hope that with the determination of all parties, the results should become visible in the near future. |
