Legal regulations regarding trading of agricultural properties inter vivos: remarks de lege ferenda

Broadly understood trading, especially trading of ownership rights to agricultural properties, as well as arable land forming a part of them, is subject to specific regulations in numerous countries. Poland is one of such countries. In the post–war period in Poland, it is possible to distinguish two basic stages of the State’s impact on the trading in arable land: until September 30, 1990 and after this date. In 1990, the trading of arable land inter vivos, regulated in the civil code, was significantly liberalised. It was only the Act on Shaping of Agricultural System of April 11, 2003 (Dz.U. No. 64, item 592) which entered into force on April 15, 2003 that introduced new restrictions into turnover of agricultural properties. In spite of the suggestive title of the above–mentioned act, it does not contain regulations whose purpose would be protection of agricultural farms from divisions detrimental from the point of view of correct agricultural economy. In Poland, work is currently under way on a new civil code. The task was entrusted to the Codification Committee of Civil Law established in 2002 by the Minister of Justice. Within the framework of work on the new code, the issue of restoring regulations which limit turnover in arable land to the civil code has emerged. This article was written by a member of the Task Team of the above–mentioned Committee. It contains remarks regarding the purposefulness and the scope of introducing limitations regarding trading in arable land into the civil code by means of contracts transferring the ownership right. The article also contains a draft regulation prepared by the article’s author.Uniwersytet Jagiellońsk