After fourteen years of litigation, the Bánffy heirs can take possession of their 2,200-hectare forest area in Maros county, after the justice system ordered the regional prefect to issue a title deed in addition to imposing a hefty fine. The measure can be called a significant step in view of the fact that in recent years the Romanian state has reclaimed so many properties that had already been returned from the Bánffys, kronikaonline.ro reports .
The Maros county government office published on its website on Wednesday that prefect Mara Togănel issued a title deed with number 12968 in favor of Éva Mária Rozália Heléna Johanna and László Bánffy Jósika Imre for the 2,260.81 hectares of forest spread around Ratosnya and Felsőrépa. As the heirs of Baron (Losonczi) László Bánffy (1896–1974), they reclaimed their rights confiscated by the Romanian state 17 years ago, but only now can they actually take possession of their property after so many administrative and court battles.
The prefecture describes in detail the history of the restitution ordeal, which is by no means unique in Romania.
As she was dissatisfied with the way in 2005 the land distribution committee of the mayor's office of Ratosnya evaluated the request for the restitution of more than 2,200 hectares of forest, Éva Bánffy appealed to the county committee that determines the right of private property over real estate in Maros County, and after her request was rejected, she went to court in 2008. The judgment of the Szaszrégen court in 2010 upheld the claim of the heir, established his ownership over the forest area, and at the same time ordered the Ratosnya land distribution committee to take possession, and the competent county board to issue the title deed. The verdict was confirmed in 2011 by the Maros County Court.
Despite this, the court verdict has not yet been implemented, because the Maros County Prefecture - through the county committee that determines the right of private property over real estate - challenged the decision declaring restitution six times with different attempts at legal remedies. However, the efforts to prevent possession failed one by one, and the ruling of the Szaszrégen court in June of this year deprived the authorities of any further evasion. He obliged the competent committee of Ratosnya and the county to issue the title deed for the 2,200 hectares of Bánffy forest by November 1, 2022, otherwise they will be forced to pay a fine of 1,000 to 1,000 lei to the state budget with effect from August 1, 2022.
As a result, Prefect Mara Togănel, as the head of the county committee determining the right to private property over real estate, signed the decision on the issuance of title deeds on October 28.
In advance, he also asked the Bucharest Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance for their opinion on the matter, and received the answer from both ministries that the obligation imposed by the court must be "voluntarily implemented" in accordance with the Civil Procedure Act valid in 1965 and currently in force.
By the way, the regional representative of the Romanian government covertly condemns his predecessor who held the post of prefect in 2014 for not signing the title deed, referring to the appeal proceedings taking place in the courts, even though no judicial forum ordered the implementation of the 2010 constitution declaring restitution. suspension. Eight years ago, it happened to be Vasile Liviu Oprea who took care of the prefect's duties, through whose intervention more than 9,300 hectares of forest in the vicinity of Ratosnya, Gödemesterháza and Palotailva were returned to the ownership of the Romanian state through litigation, which was returned in 2007 to another branch of the Bánffy family, count Bánffy to Daniel's heirs.
The Romanian state sued Bánffy assets that had already been returned to them a few years ago in lawsuits initiated by the former Fehér County Prefect Dănuț Emil Hălălai, namely on the grounds that their former owner, Dániel Bánffy, the former Minister of Agriculture, was sentenced to confiscation of assets by a Romanian people's court in 1952 on grounds of humanity on charges of inciting crimes against The Bánffy descendants, however, shed light: Dániel Bánffy's property was nationalized in 1947-1948, so when the 1952 judgment was pronounced, there was no longer any property that could have been confiscated by the Romanian state. They also added that in 1952 a conviction was handed down against the former minister in the communist concept trial in a case in which in 1946 the district court of Cluj, which was still independent of communist influence, gave a legally binding verdict of acquittal.
The Bánffy heirs appealed to the European Court of Human Rights regarding their property dispute with the Romanian state in Maros and Fehér counties.
Source: kronikaonline.ro
Photo: Chronicle / Rostás Szabolcs
