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06/01/2012
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The New Law on Restitution

 

The Law on Restitution and Compensation (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” no. 72/2011) (“Law”) regulates the procedure for the restitution of property, and the provision of compensation with regard to property that was originally taken from natural persons and legal entities for the purposes of agricultural reform, nationalisation, sequestration and other provisions after 9 March 1945.
Restitution can take two forms:
  • In kind,
  • Compensation by way of government bonds or money.
Restitution concerns both movable and immovable property and is provided free of any charges or mortgages on the title of the property.
The total compensation provided for each restitution case may not exceed EUR 500,000.
The acquisition of property through the restitution process is not subject to any taxes with regard to the transfer of property.
The whole process of restitution first depends on the formation of the Agency for Restitution (“Agency”). Each request for restitution needs to be submitted (at the latest) 2 years from the date of the issuing of the public call for restitution requests. Such a call can only be made by the Agency. The Agency will decide on requests regarding restitution or compensation and will provide guidance and advice to persons that are entitled to participate in the restitution procedure. Please note that under the Law, the Agency was scheduled to have been operational from 1 January 2012, however this is not the case and it is most probable that it will now become operational from 1 February 2012.
In addition to the Law on Restitution, the Rules on the Form of Request for Restitution and Compensation, the Manner and Procedure for Receiving and Processing Requests, List of Post Offices in which the Request will be submitted, as well as Form and Content of the Request (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia” no. 94/2011) (“Rules”) entered into force on 22 December 2011. The Rules prescribe the requisite form of the request for restitution, and provides the list of post offices where such a request for restitution can be submitted.