MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT & OF ENERGY
GENERAL SECRETARIAT OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENT & OF WATER
GENERAL DIRECTORATE OF FORESTS & FOREST ENVIRONMENT
FOREST PROTECTION DIRECTORATE
DEPARTMENT OF REAL RIGHTS
SUBJECT: Instructions for the implementation of the provisions of case IV of par. 1 of article 10 of Law 3208/2003 and of Article 8A of Law 998/1979, which was added with article 149 of Law 4819/2021.
On the occasion of questions submitted to our Service, regarding the application of the above provisions, we provide the following instructions:
A. In the provision of case IV of par. 1 of article 10 of Law 3208/2003, added by Article 152 of Law 4819/2021 it is defined that:
“1. The State does not assert ownership rights in forests, forest lands and the lands of cases a` and b` of paragraph 5 of article 3 of this law which: ………..
- They are included in areas of the second paragraph of article 62 of Law 998/1979 (A’ 289), for which the Greek State does not have title deeds or other sufficient proof of its ownership, such as acts of lease, concession or other exploitation, utilization and protection of the area as public and, at the same time, the claimants of the area have title deeds, themselves or their licensors, which were drawn up by 1.7.2001 at the latest, even if they have transcribed later. Pending real actions of the State concerning the said lands and which are based on title deeds or other sufficient evidence of its ownership, are not affected by the regulation of this article. In the event that the right of ownership over the above lands has been registered in favor of individuals or legal entities of public or private law in the cadastral books of the relevant cadastral offices, the Greek State does not assert ownership rights over them and does not exercise the legal remedies provided for in the article 6 of Law 2664/1998 (A’ 275)”.
With the above provision it was defined that the Greek State does not assert ownership rights in forests , forest and grassland areas, located in the areas of the second paragraph of article 62 of Law 998/1979, if the following two conditions are cumulatively met: a)the State does not have evidence of its ownership, such as the indicative acts of leasing, concession, utilization and protection of the area as public referred to in the provision and b) the claimants to the area have title deeds, themselves or their licensors, which were drawn up by the 1 .7.2001 at the latest, even if they have been transcribed later.
Regarding the condition under item (a) it is clarified that evidence of State ownership /strong>, indicatively, can be:
1) Property Title
A property title is considered any notarial deed by which an area is transferred to the State, due to e.g. sale or donation. The declaration of expropriation in favor of the State, after the payment of compensation to the Deposit and Loan Fund, also transfers ownership of the land to the State. The contract of 18-9-1952 between the State and the Church of Greece, which was ratified by the Royal Decree of 26-9-1952 (Government Gazette 289 A’), also constitutes a title for the State.
2) Acts of lease or concession or other exploitation
As such, the leasing of public of forest areas based on the provisions of the forestry legislation as well as the acts by which the use of public forest area is granted for one of the purposes of Chapter VI of Law 998/79.
3) Acts of exploiting and protecting the area as public
As such, the acts of managing public forests and forestry can be considered of land, in accordance with the provisions of articles 117 et seq. of the Forestry Code.
4) Court decisions and negative opinions of the Forest Ownership Councils as well as ministerial decisions accepting them.
If both of the above conditions are not met, i.e. either in the case that the Greek State has sufficient evidence to prove its ownership, or the of claimants does not have a title deed, which was drawn up until 1.7.2001, the Greek State continues to assert ownership rights to these lands, as it has done until today. The control of compliance with the above conditions and the administrative recognition of the ownership of the said lands is carried out by the councils of article 8A of law 998/1979, as this results from the combined interpretation and application of the provisions of sec. d of par. 5 of article 3 and article 8A of the aforementioned law.
Furthermore with the above provision of the first paragraph of paragraph IV of article 10 of Law 3208/2003, private rights on the said lands that have been acquired by usufructuary or with titles drawn up after the above date, for which it is still valid that was valid even before the introduction of the above provision, are not catalyzed.
In the second paragraph of the above provision it is defined that pending trials are not affected by the provision of the first paragraph, as long as the Greek State has title deeds or other sufficient evidence of its ownership. On the contrary, it follows that, since the State has not presented before the Courts titles or other sufficient evidence of its ownership and given that the Courts may, within the framework of their competences, examine the assistance of the above two conditions, the pending cases are occupied by the new settings. Finally, in the last paragraph of the above provision it is clarified that in case the right of ownership over the above lands has been registered in favor of individuals or legal entities of public or private law in the cadastral books of the relevant cadastral offices, the Greek State does not assert ownership rights over them and does not exercise the legal remedies provided for in Article 6 of Law 2664/1998, and this because the control of the title deeds of the claimants on the lands has already been carried out by the competent cadastral offices, while the date of their compilation is obtained from the relevant cadastral office sheet, on which is written the notarial title, on which the registration is based. Following this, any orders to erect pipelines that have been given by the relevant forestry services to the offices of the Legal Council of the State should be revoked.
It is clarified that in the cases that in an area the land registration procedures have not started or have started, but the first registrations have not been completed, the public services must submit a declaration for all the lands that have a forest or grassland character, as long as, even if they do not have sufficient proof of ownership of the Greek State, it is not possible to know in advance whether citizens have title deeds drawn up until 1.7.2001 at the latest.
Furthermore the polygons of the lands, located in the areas of the second paragraph of article 62 of law 998/1979 and assigned to the relevant forest map as grassland or rocky in paragraphs 5a and 5b of article 3 of law 998/1979 will be excluded from the forest map with the manifest error procedure, as subject to section IV of article 10 of law 3208/2003, as long as the citizens present a decision of the Council of article 8A of law 998/1979, by which their ownership of the area in question or if the State does not have titles or other evidence of ownership and the citizens provide a) an excerpt of the relevant cadastral map with the coordinates of peaks or cadastral map, b) an excerpt of the relevant cadastral sheet in which the interested party has be registered as the owner of the area in question by virtue of a title drawn up until 1.7.2001, and c) A title report drawn up by a lawyer, since the title of the current owner referred to in the relevant cadastral sheet is newer than the above date, but the title of of this licensor was drawn up prior to 1.7.2001 and does not appear in the cadastral records.
Furthermore, in view of the fact that many questions have been submitted to our Service, regarding the application of the above-mentioned last paragraph of par. IV of article 10 of Law 3208/2003, coming from private individuals who wish to transfer lands in the above areas, which have been registered in the original cadastral records as belonging to them by virtue of titles that have been drawn up until 1.7.2001, we inform you of the following:
According to the above provision of the last paragraph of section IV of article 10 of as above law, in the above cases the State does not assert ownership rights, since it does not have a title or other evidence to prove its ownership. Therefore, if an inspection of the records of the relevant Forestry Service shows that the latter condition is also met, and thus the State does not claim the area in question, there is a case of granting by the Forestry Service, a relevant Certificate of the non-existence of the above information, following a relevant request from the interested individuals or legal entities with the submission of the above-mentioned information under items a to c hereof.
B. In the provision of article 8A of law 998/1979, which was added by paragraph 1 of article 149 of law 4819/2021, it is stipulated that:
“Article 8A Councils of Ownership of Forests, Forestry, Grasslands and Rocky Lands (SIDHBE) located in the areas of the second paragraph of article 62 of law 998/1979
- For the administrative recognition by the State of the ownership or other real rights of individuals or legal entities of public or private law over forests, forest lands and the lands of par. 5a and 5b of article 3, located in the areas of the second paragraph of article 62, at least four (4) Property Councils are recommended, which respectively have their headquarters in Corfu, Heraklion of Crete, Mytilini and Piraeus. The local competence of each of the above councils extends to: a) the first, the districts of the Courts of First Instance of the Ionian Islands, b) the second, the districts of the Courts of First Instance of Crete, c) the third, the districts of the Courts of First Instance of the Regional Units of Lesvos, Samos and of Chios and, d) of the fourth, in the regions of the Courts of First Instance of the Cyclades, on the islands of Kythira and Antikythira and in the area of Mani, as defined by the administrative boundaries of the Municipalities of Eastern and Western Mani.
- Each Property Council consists of by: a) a representative of the Legal Council of the State, as president or a lawyer at least on behalf of the appellant, deputized by his legal deputy, b) the head of the relevant Real Estate Service, deputized by his legal deputy and c) the head of Directorate of Forests of the Council’s headquarters, replaced by his legal deputy. The president and the members of the above councils with their deputies are appointed by decision of the Coordinator of the relevant Decentralized Administration for a two-year term, which can be renewed. The meeting can also be held by teleconference for some or all of the members.
- The Property Councils of par. 1 are responsible for the recognition of ownership or other real right, at the request of the interested individual or legal entity person, on the basis of legally transcribed title deeds submitted under them, which have been drawn up no later than 1.7.2001, even if they have been transcribed later and which are accompanied by topographical diagrams, dependent on the Hellenic Geodetic Reference System 1987 (EGSA 87 ), in which the area described in the titles is recorded, as well as on the basis of the data kept at the Forestry Service. The Councils can also request the sending of any useful document or other element from other public services or order the carrying out of a special investigation or expert opinion in order to form a safe judgment about the private rights in question. More applications concerning the same area or in contiguous sections are considered together. The above-mentioned Councils, after reading the report of the appointed rapporteur, issue a reasoned opinion on each case. The judgment of the Councils is formed by a free assessment of the above evidence, and is subject to the approval of the Minister of Environment and Energy, who can accept or not, in whole or in part, but for the benefit of the State, but not to modify it at the expense of the State. In the event that the right of ownership over the above lands has been registered in favor of private individuals in the cadastral books of the relevant cadastral offices and the Greek State does not assert ownership rights over them in application of paragraph IV of paragraph 1 of article 10 of the law. 3208/2003 (A` 303), the above procedure is not followed.
- By a joint decision of the Ministers of Environment and Energy, Finance, and Justice, the issues of the composition and internal organization of the Property Councils, the operation and the procedure before them for adjudication of cases and issuance of their opinions, including the representation or personal representation of the interested parties, the collection of evidence and the examination of witnesses, the commissioning of expert opinions, the notification of opinions to the interested parties and the public authorities, the issuance and notification of ministerial decisions , as well as those of their execution.
- Until the establishment of the Property Councils of par. 1, responsible for the administrative recognition of ownership or other real rights on the above lands in accordance with the procedure of par. 3 are the Forest Ownership Councils of article 6. With the joint decision of par. 4 it is possible to establish more Ownership Councils and to determine the headquarters and the region of each of the established Councils.
- With the joint decision of par. 4 it is possible to establish more Property Councils and to determine the headquarters and the region of each of the established Councils”.
With par. 2 of article 149 of Law 4819/2021, it is defined that:
“2. The Greek State does not exercise legal remedies against the decisions of the cadastral judge recognizing the ownership or other real right of individuals or legal entities under public or private law over the above lands, as long as it does not have title deeds or other sufficient evidence of its ownership. Protocols of Administrative Deportation, which were issued before the entry into force of this and refer to the above areas, are revoked since they were issued”.
With the above paragraph 1 of of article 8A of Law 998/1979, four (4) Property Councils are created, with responsibility for the administrative recognition by the State of the ownership or other real rights of individuals or legal entities under public or private law over forests, forest lands and lands of paragraphs 5a and 5b of article 3, located in the areas of the second paragraph of article 62, corresponding to the Forest Ownership Councils provided for in article 8 of the same law, which are now only responsible for the remaining areas of the country.
Paragraph 2 of article 8A of Law 998/1979 defines the members that make up the Councils, the procedure for their formation and the possibility of holding meetings through teleconferences.
In par. 3 of article 8A of Law 998/1979, it is stipulated that the Councils in question are undertaken upon request of the interested party based on a) titles presented by the interested party, which must have been drawn up by 1.7.2001 at the latest and accompanied by topographical diagrams, in order to determine the location of the area described in them and b) the data kept at the Forestry Service. This provision differs from the prevailing provision of the 3rd subparagraph of paragraph 5 of article 3 of Law 998/1979, in which it was defined, prior to its amendment by Article 148 of Law 4819/2021, that that :
“Especially the recognition of ownership or other rights of rights on the above areas of the second subparagraph of Article 62 hereof, as applicable, is performed by The above procedure on the basis of ownership titles, which are dated before February 23, 1946 and have been transcribed even later ‘, only in terms of the time in which the entrepreneurs provided by the stakeholders and the obligation to refer to the obligation. Topographic diagram. Paragraph 3 also regulates issues related to the collection of data for the formation of their judgment, the observed process, the decisions and the acceptance of or not by the Minister of Environment and Energy.
Especially regarding the last subparagraph of Article 8A (3) of Law 998/1979, stating that ‘in the event that the right to ownership of the above areas has been registered in favor of private books in land books of the relevant Land Registries and the Greek State does not indicate ownership rights in accordance with para. , This provision clarifies, in harmony with the provision of the last subparagraph of indent IV of Article 10, paragraph 1 of Law 3208/2003, that the procedure of administrative recognition by the above councils is not followed in cases where The State does not raise ownership rights on these areas. Moreover, no point in the above provision does not arise, that if the right to ownership of the above areas has not been registered in the cadastral books of the relevant Land Registry, the procedure must be followed before the above Councils or that the above Council The lawsuit against the State, without the prior application before the ownership councils, renders the lawsuit unacceptable. This is because in the event of compulsory compliance with a process, or adopting an unacceptable, the legislator would not have it in the interpretive approach of the provision, but would explicitly establish it.
Paragraphs 4 and 6 of article 8a of Law 998/1979, the Ministers of Environment and Energy, Finance, and Justice are authorized to determine in particular the issues of the establishment, internal organization, operation, etc. Councils. Paragraph 5 of article 8a of Law 998/1979 stipulates that until the establishment of the ownership councils the relevant cases are raised in the forestry councils referred to in Article 8 of the above law.
Finally, paragraph 2 of article 149 of Law 4819/2021, it stipulates that the State does not exercise remedies against the decisions of the Land Judge recognizing ownership or other private or legal persons or legal persons Private Law on the above areas, unless it has ownership titles or other sufficient evidence of its ownership and that administrative miscarriage protocols issued until the entry into force of the present and refer to the above areas, have been recalled since they were issued.
c. with the 3rd paragraph of Article 3 paragraph 5 of Law 998/1979, which was replaced by article 148 of Law 4819/2021 it is stipulated that:
“Especially the administrative recognition of ownership or other rights in the above areas, lying in the second subparagraph of Article 62, is carried out by the provisions of Article 8a Councils in accordance with the procedure of the Article 3 (3). ” Of the councils referred to in Article 8 of the same Law, since councils specifically have been established for the areas of the second subparagraph of Article 62 and on the other hand that the recognition would be performed by titles dated before February 23, 1946, after now with the Paragraph 3 of Article 8A Recognition is carried out under titles drawn up by 1st.7.2001. : justify?”>
