Autor: Denisa Anderková, Ministry of Agriculture of the SR

What role is played by the Ministry of Agriculture of the SR

in renewal of land ownership registration

Registration of ownership right to real property

Long-lasting domination of utilization rights, urbanization and development of

industrial and other activities in up to then mainly agricultural country caused changes
in the land ownership, which complicated or even excluded renewal of its original
status in the ownership relationships.
Since 1990 there has been a gradual updating and recovery of land ownership
as well as renewal of its administration.
Data on ownership rights to original real property is registered in a separate
subregister of data on original real property with a brief mark “register E”.
For each cadastral area there has been developed a cadastral map based on
which registration of original real property and registration of ownership right to
original real property have been established.
The assigned cadastral map satisfies the condition of mapping the original real
property in the graphic part of the cadastral map and relevant data (parcel number,
acreage, type of the parcel) in the written part of the cadastral map.
Complete data concerning the original real property and their owners is found
out by identification i.e. by comparison of the data of the original real property
recorded in the land register file, memorandum, protocol or in the deeds with the data
contained in the cadastral map assigned for registration of original real property and
ownership to original real property.

Settlement of land ownership pursuant to Slovak National Council Act No

330/1991 Coll. as amended
The department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the SR started the settlement
of land ownership by means of a special procedure connected with other tasks of
agriculture, forestry industry and development of the countryside in general, in
proceedings on land adjustment in accordance with Slovak National Council Act No
330/1991 Coll as amended.
 In 1992 the Ministry of Agriculture of the SR abandoned works on projects of
land adjustment in the phase of processing the register of the original state mostly
because of discrepancies in the register of land ownership exceeding the number of
usually occurred differences and together with Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre
Authority suggested legislative and technical measures aimed at speeding up and
improving the process of finding out and registration legal relationships to original
real property.
The result of that was Conception of land ownership adjustment in the Slovak
republic of the year 1993 adopted by governmental decree No 869 of 23/9/1993.
In later decree No 572 of 14/07/1994 the SR government also approved of
organizational support of the project of land ownership settlement.
In a special administrative procedure according to Slovak National Council
Act No 330/1991 Coll. as amended the Ministry of Agriculture of the SR started
compiling documents to establish registration of legal relationships to original real
property and to other real property in the real estate cadastre in the form of an
ownership rights register (RVP, joint cadastral maps) or a simplified register of
original state (ZRPS, non-joint cadastral maps).
The adopted ZRPS or RVP in accordance with § 9 sect. 5 Slovak National
Council Act No 330/1991 Coll. as amended is recorded in the real estate cadastre as a
date sheet based on the decision of the administrative body which is the department of
land, agriculture and forestry industry of the district authority.
Thus compiled registers comprise an officially found summary of up-to-date
and available data on land parcels being the subject of ownership right, which
provides certain legal certainty, and at the same time enables to prove the ownership
later by generally valid methods.
It is necessary to state that in the process of settlement of land ownership
according to Slovak National Council Act No 330/1991 Coll. as amended research of
ownership right is carried out only outside the built-up areas of the community (in
extravillain), it is impossible to solve cases of unproved ownership as well as evident
discrepancies which arose as a result of transfer of ownership right from the state to a
community in accordance with Act 138/1991 Coll. and further discrepancies which
arose from notary’s certificates issued in accordance with Act 323/1992 Coll. and
further discrepancies according to Act No 323/1992 Coll. on Notaries and Notarial
Activities or in the case of loss of documentary evidence of ownership.
Renewal of the register of some land parcels and legal relationships to them
according to National Council Act No 180/1995 Coll. as amended

Experience and results showed and still show that it is impossible to manage
the settlement of land ownership within a reasonable time only by means of the
procedures specified by National Council Act No 330/1991 as amended.
For that reason National Council of the SR adopted Act No 180/1995 Coll on Certain
Measures for the Settlement of Ownership Rights to Land which speeds up the whole
process of settlement of land ownership and not only in the collectivised extravillain.
National Council Act No 180/1995 Coll. Certain Measures for the Settlement of
Ownership Rights to land as amended divides cadastral areas according to the quality
of the technical cadastral maps into five categories as follows:

a) Cadastral maps of the real estate cadastre are joined with cadastral
maps of the land register
b) cadastral maps of the real estate cadastre are not joined with cadastral
maps of the land register but it is possible to identify the data recorded
in them
c) cadastral maps of the real estate cadastre are not joined with cadastral
maps of the land register and it is impossible to identify the data recorded
in them
d) cadastral maps drawn up based on consolidation were not approved by the court,
but participants of the consolidation procedure acquired possession
e) cadastral maps of the land register is not available,
in which classification, number and categories of cadastral areas are constituent part
of Conception of land ownership adjustment in the Slovak republic.
Pursuant to this Act The Ministry of Agriculture of the SR and the Geodesy,
Cartography and Cadastre Authority of the SR renew registration of some
land parcels and legal relationships to them by compiling a register of the
renewed registration of land parcels (hereafter only "ROEP"), i.e. the
Ministry of Agriculture of the SR in 1195 cadastral areas of the categories
c), d) and e) and the Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority of the
SR in 2308 cadastral areas of the categories a) and b).
The purpose of the ROEP is to centralize as much as possible all the data
on land parcels as well as legal relationships to them in the whole
cadastral area so that they could be used as the real cadastre data after
their entry into the real estate cadastre.
The whole process of compiling ROEP is a special type of administrative
procedure, in which a modified cadastral procedure and land adjustment procedure are
used along with common adjustment of researching documents necessary for decision
making, discussion of ROEP and its approval.

The renewal of some land registration and legal relationships to it is executed

in accordance with Act No 180/1995 Coll. of the National council of the SR on
certain measures for the settlement of ownership rights to land as amended by
compiling a register of the renewed registration of land parcels as a listing of data for
parcels and legal relationships to them in the whole cadastral area connected to
settlement of land ownership according to Slovak National Council Act 330/1991
Coll. on land adjustments, settlement of ownership of land, land offices, land fund and
land communities as amended (register of the original state, register of ownership
rights or simplified register of the original state as a listing of data for original real
property and their ownership relationships in the extravillain of cadastral areas).
The registration of legal relationship to land parcels in ownership sheets in the
whole cadastral area will be achieved by settlement of land ownership pursuant to Act
No 180/1995 Coll. of the NC of the SR as amended by compiling the ROEP, its
approval and adoption as a public deed as well by entering records of land ownership
into the real estate cadastre
The ROEP essentially broadens and changes the structure and the present
contents of descriptive and graphic information of the real estate cadastre.
The ROEP significantly influences the structure, quality and contents of the
real estate cadastre with a positive impact on users of the information contained in the
real estate cadastre.
The approved ROEP is a public deed pursuant to § 7 sect.4 of Act No
180/1995 Coll. of the NC of the SR as amended and serves as a basis for the record of
legal relationships (in this case mainly ownership rights) as well as further data (e.g.
type of land parcel, land evaluation) to original real property and also to other
property in the real estate cadastre.
Present state of things

The settlement of land ownership pursuant to Act No 180/1995 Coll. of the

NC of the SR as amended not only creates objective conditions for formation of land
market but also brings appropriate order to the real estate cadastre what enables to
speed up the process of improving living conditions of rural population and
subsequent optimal spatial and functional settlement of land parcels within land
adjustments.
The renewal of land registration and legal relationships to it is not possible
without the ROEP in the time limit as scheduled by the government, it is impossible
to create legislative, ecological and organizational conditions for development of land
market without the ROEP or to bring order to the registration of ownership rights.
The Ministry of Agriculture of the SR acts in all cadastral areas appertaining
to it, as scheduled.
In proceedings according to Act No 180/1995 Coll. of the NC of the SR as
amended the Ministry of Agriculture of the SR renews the registration of some land
parcels and legal relationships to them in 1195 cadastral areas, of these in 641 areas
after already compiled registers in the proceedings according to Slovak National
Council Act No 330/191 Coll.as amended, i.e. after RVP or ZRPS.
By 31/12/2004 The Ministry of Agriculture of the SR has completed 1106
registers, which have already been recorded in real estate cadastre. Besides that all the
registers have already been completed and recorded in accordance with Act 330/1991
Coll.
Geodesy, cartography and real estate cadastre Authority of the SR was
performing its function in 1265 cadastral areas of the whole number 2308 cadastral
areas by 31/12/2004.
By 31/12/2004 Geodesy, cartography and real estate cadastre Authority of the
SR completed and recorded 815 registers in the real estate cadastre.
The work was delayed due to unfavourable conditions in attaining state tasks
in the sector of real estate cadastre in spite of the simplified means of proving land
ownership rights aside from the annual current resources of the state budget what was
also stated in the analysis of the delay in the settlement of land ownership (Decree of
the SR government No 852 of 25/XI/1997) as well as in the long-term schedule of the
process and completion of land ownership settlement (Decree of the SR government
No 452 of 7/VII/1998) where there were adopted measures for providing work in
accordance with the budget resources.
Each high-volume project, such as undoubtedly registration of real property
and ownership right to it , would be nipped in the bud if done in haste or superficially
without giving a thoughtful consideration to its completion. Any work done in haste is
not finished properly and has to be checked, completed and redone very soon or even
started from the very beginning, as all the previous registers of real property and
rights to it, turned out be.
We have to believe that renewal of registration of some land parcels and legal
relationships to them pursuant to Act 180/1995 Coll. of the National Council of the
SR as amended will be an exception to it and, as the first on the territory of Slovakia
will be entirely and successfully completed.

Administrative bodies and system of work

Land registers, which serve the purpose of renewal of land parcel registration,
are compiled by entrepreneurial entities engaged in surveying activities. Selection or
engaging of contractors was carried out in accordance with legal provisions on the
basis of public acquisition. Funds were provided by the Ministry from the state
budget as separate capital expenditures. The total amount spent for this purpose came
to approximately 1800mil. Slovak crowns.
Land adjustment, decision making as well as supervision and taking over was
carried out by bodies of state administration as follows: from 1991 to 1996 these were
land registries operated directly by the Ministry, from 1996 – 2003 - district
authorities, departments of agriculture and forestry operated by the Department of the
Interior and since 2004 these have been district land registries operated by the
Ministry of Agriculture of the SR.