Albania versus European Court Decision on Property Conflicts

Abstract

The acquisition of immovable property, as an Institute of Civil Law but also as a key component of human life has always been the focus of attention in different social systems and periods of development. Even with substantial historical movements, wars, settlements, migrations or immigrations, property has been treated in all legislations, notwithstanding the legal regime or form of the state establishment, at any time. The legal approach to all issues, often challenging and complex, regarding the property acquisition and maintenance, has highlighted that property issue, in addition to its legal aspect, bears also a highly complex and unanimous aspect such as the anthropological one, namely of social behaviour in relation to the concept of property acquisition from a broad perspective. Analysis of the phenomenon of ownership acquisition should be viewed in a historical focus and referring to the period from 1991 to date, it is noticed that its most objective and characteristic feature is the social behaviour in the post-communist Albania to the extra-legal modalities, if I can put it this way, of the property acquisition from a comprehensive perspective. What the Albanian legislation has foreseen in this period and which has been human approach both in relation to law and its enforcement on one hand and with the property on the other hand. Property acquisition is really in the focus but the binary link is the analysis of the behaviour of the Albanian population regarding the property acquisition and its maintenance. It is worth noting that the behaviour of Albanian population to property not only has failed to pursue law but has acquired the method of its unreasonable acquisition, often arguing on the basis of customs law and other times by adoption to the phenomenon of invasion of state lands or lands of previous owners.

Keywords: Property, Law 7501, Land ownership, European Court Decisions, Social Behaviour.