Selected aspects of the division of property as a legal construct

Space is a joint interest that requires legal protection ensured through administrative (authoritarian) legal instruments. The value of this interest is incalculable, thus the instances of restriction of land ownership are not an infrequent occurrence. The main legal instrument affecting space development is the local land use plan adopted by the competent municipal or rural council. This document underlies a variety of decisions (administrative and judicial) involving land use. One of them is the decision approving the property division plan. The solutions adopted in the plan must be in line with the aforesaid land use document. If the divided property is not covered by a land use plan, the conformity of property division is determined based on the location decision or, if the latter is absent, pursuant to the specific provisions governing land use. Polish regulations on the rules and procedures for property division were laid down as early as in 1928. These rules and procedures have been altered several times ever since. Currently, the effective law is Articles 92–100 of the Act of 21 August 1997 on Property Management (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2010, No. 102, item 651 as amended). The measures adopted in the new law differ from previous solutions. By and large, the new regulation stipulates the control of divisions of land lots and not the divisions of larger property that may consist of many lots. This may come as a surprise since the manner of using land property in accordance with the local land use plan or other documents is contingent upon the area and shape of the property rather than the area and shape of a parcel being part of that property. This paper aims to assess the adopted solutions on the division of property against the modifications made and from the viewpoint of legal risks that arise from these new regulations. The currently binding arrangements regarding the division of property have been assessed positively in principle although they narrow the scope of property division control. With regard to the specific regulations, they are not entirely consistent, which is the source of certain legal risks associated with property transactions.Uniwersytet Jagiellońsk