LAW
on public property and its juridical regime no. 213 of 1998

 

CHAPTER I
General provisions

 

            Art. 1. - The public property right shall belong to the State or to the territorial-administrative units, on goods which, according to the law or by their nature, are of public interest or use.

            Art. 2. - The State or the territorial-administrative units shall exercise the disposition, use and possession on goods forming the public domain, within the limits and under the terms of the law.

            Art. 3. - (1) The public domain shall consist of the goods provided under art. 135 para. (4) of the Constitution, of those established in the Appendix which forms and inte grant part of the present law, and of any other goods which, according to the law or by their nature, are of public use or interest and are acquired by the State or by the territorial-administrative units through the ways provided by law.
            (2) The public domain of the State shall consist of the goods provided under art. 135 para. (4) of the Constitution, of those provided under point I of the Appendix as well as of other goods of national public interest or use declared as such by law.
            (3) The public domain of the counties shall consist of the goods provided under point II of the Appendix and of other goods of county public interest or use, declared as such by decision of the county council, unless by law declared goods of national public interest or use.
            (4) The public domain of the communes, of the towns, and of the municipalities shall consist of the goods provided under point III of the Appendix and of other goods of local public interest or use, declared as such by decision of the local council, unless by law declared goods of county or national interest or use.

            Art. 4. - The private domain of the State or of the territorial-administrative units shall consist of the goods existing in their property and which do not belong to the public domain. On these goods the State or the territorial-administrative units shall have the right of private property.

            Art. 5. - (1) The juridical regime of the public property right shall be established by the present law, unless otherwise disposed by special organic laws.
            (2) The private property right of the State or of the territorial-administrative units over goods from the private domain shall be subject to the juridical regime of ordinary law, unless otherwise disposed by law.

            Art. 6. - (1) Also belonging to the private or public domain of the state or of the territorial-administrative units shall be the goods acquired by the State in the 6 March 1945-22 December 1989 period, if they entered into the State's property on the grounds of a valid title, with observance of the Constitution, of the international treaties to which Romania was party, and of the laws in force at the date of their taking over by the State.
            (2) Goods taken over by the State without a valid title, those obtained by vitiation of consent inclusive, can be claimed by the former owners or their successors, unless they form the object of a special law of reparation.
            (3) The courts of law shall be competent to establish the validity of the title.

 

CHAPTER II
Juridical regime of public property

 

            Art. 7. - The public property right shall be acquired:
            a) in a natural way;
            b) by public acquisition effected under the terms of the law;
            c) by expropriation for cause of public utility;
            d) by acts of donation or legacy accepted by the Government, a county council or a local council, as the case may be, if the good in question enters into the public domain;
            e) by the passage of goods from the private domain of the State or of territorial-administrative units into their public domain for reasons of public utility;
            f) by other ways provided by law.

            Art. 8. - (1) The passage of goods from the private domain of the State or of territorial-administrative units into their public domain, according to art. 7 letter e) shall be made by decision of the Government, of the county council, respectively of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest or of the local council, as the case may be.
            (2) The decision of passage of the goods may be attacked, under the terms of the law, at the competent disputed claims office in whose territorial area the good is situated.
            (3) The passage into the public domain of goods from the estate of trading companies in which the State or a territorial-administrative unit is a shareholder can be made only with payment and with the consent of the general meeting of the shareholders of the respective trading company. Failing this agreement, the goods of the respective trading company may be passed into the public domain only by the procedure of expropriation for cause of public utility and after a just and previous payment of compensation.

            Art. 9. - (1) The passage of a good from the public domain of the State into the public domain of a territorial-administrative unit shall be made at the request of the county council, respectively of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest or of the local council, as the case may be, by decision of the Government.
            (2) The passage of a good from the public domain of a territorial-administrative unit into the public domain of the State shall be made, at the request of the Government, by decision of the county council, respectively of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest or of the local council.

            Art. 10. - (1) The public property right shall cease, if the good has perished or has been passed into the private domain.
            (2) The passage from the public domain into the private domain shall be made by decision of the Government, of the county council, respectively of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest or of the local council, as the case may be, if not otherwise provided under the Constitution or by law.
            (3) The decision of passage of a good into the private domain may by attacked under the terms of art. 8 para. (2).

            Art. 11. - (1) Goods from the public domain shall be inalienable, not distrainable and imprescriptible, as follows:
            a) they cannot be alienated; they can only be given in administration, conceded, or leased, under the terms of the law;
            b) they cannot be distrained and no corporeal security may be constituted on them;
            c) they may not be acquired by other persons by usucaption or by the effect of good faith possession on movable goods.
            (2) Juridical acts concluded with infringement of the provisions under para. (1) regarding the juridical regime of goods from the public domain shall be under absolute nullity.

            Art. 12. - (1) Goods from the public domain may be given in the administration of self-managed public companies, of prefectures, of local or central authorities of the public administration, of other public institutions of local, county or national interest, as the case may be.
            (2) Giving in administration shall be accomplished by decision of Government or of county council, respectively of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest, as the case may be.
            (3) The titular of the right of administration may possess or use the good and dispose of it under the terms of the deed by which the good was given in his administration. The right of administration can be revoked only if its titular fails to exercise his rights and to carry out his obligations arising from the deed of transmission.
            (4) In litigations with regard to the right of administration the titular of this right will stand in court for oneself. In litigations with reference to the right of property on the good, the titular of the right of administration shall be under an obligation to show to the court who is the titular of the property right, according to the provisions under the Code of civil procedure. The titular of the right of administration shall be responsible, under the terms of the law, for prejudices caused as a result of non-fulfilment of this obligation. Likewise, the non-fulfilment of this obligation may attract the revocation of the right of administration.
            (5) In the litigations provided under para. (4), the State shall be represented by the Ministry of Finance, and the territorial-administrative units, by the county councils, the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest, or by the local councils, which shall, in each case, give a written mandate to the mayor or chairman of the county council. The mayor may designate another public servant or a lawyer to represent him in court.
            (6) The provisions under para. (4) and (5) are also applicable to litigations with regard to the right of concession, leasing, or to the right of property on goods conceded or leased.

            Art. 13. - (1) Servitudes on goods from the public domain shall be valid only to the extent to which these servitudes are compatible with the public interest or use to which the affected goods are destined.
            (2) The validly constituted servitudes prior to the entry of the good into the public domain shall be maintained in the terms provided under para. (1).

            Art. 14. - (1) The leasing of goods public property of the State or of territorial-administrative units shall be approved by decision of the Government, of the county council, of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest or of the local council, as the case may be, and the leasing contract shall include clauses of a nature to ensure the exploitation of the leased good, according to its specific character.
            (2) The leasing contract may be concluded by the titular of the administration or property right with any foreign or Romanian, juristic or natural person, as the case may be.

            Art. 15. - The conceding or leasing of public property goods shall be made by public auction, under the terms of the law.

            Art. 16. - (1) The amounts of money collected from the conceding or leasing of public property goods shall be made revenue to the local budgets or to the state budget, as the case may be.
            (2) Should the leasing contract be concluded by the titular of the administration right, he shall be entitled to collect from the rent a share from 20% to 50% established by decision of the Government, of the county council, of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest or the local council, as the case may be, by which the leasing has been approved.

            Art. 17. - The State and the territorial-administrative units may give buildings from their estate for use free of charge, over a limited period, to non-profit juristic persons unfolding charitable or public utility activities, or to public services.

 

CHAPTER III
Final provisions

 

            Art. 18. - The financial accounting of the goods forming the public domain of the State or of the territorial-administrative units shall be kept distinctly in the accountancy according to the methodological standards elaborated by the Ministry of Finance and approved by decision of the Government.

            Art. 19. - (1) The inventory of the goods from the public domain shall be prepared within nine months after the date of coming into force of the present law.
            (2) Within 45 days after the coming into force of the present law, the Department for Local Public Administration shall, on the basis of the proposals of the county councils, of the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest or of the local councils, as the case may be, elaborate the technical standards for the preparation of the inventory, which shall be submitted to the Government for approval.

            Art. 20. - (1) The inventory of the goods from the public domain of the State shall be prepared by the ministries, by the other specialist bodies of the central public administration and by the central public authorities which have in administration such goods, as the case may be.
            (2) The centralization of the inventory mentioned under para. (1) shall be performed by the Ministry of Finance and subjected for approval to the Government.

            Art. 21. - (1) The inventory of goods forming the public domain of the territorial-administrative units shall be prepared by specially constituted commissions conducted by the chairmen of the county councils, respectively by the mayor general of the Municipality of Bucharest or by the mayors, as the case may be.
            (2) The inventories prepared according to the provisions under para. (1) shall be appropriated by the county councils, by the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest or by the local councils, as the case may be.
            (3) The inventories thus appropriated shall be centralized by the county council, respectively by the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest, and conveyed to the Government in order that, by decision, the belonging of the goods to the county public domain of public interest be attested.

            Art. 22. - The ministries, the other specialist bodies of the central public administration, the central public authorities, the county councils, the General Council of the Municipality of Bucharest, and the local councils, as the case may be, shall be under an obligation to make the recording of the modifying operations of the juridical regime of the goods from the public domain of the State or that of the administrative-territorial units.

            Art. 23. - Disputed claims offices shall be competent for litigations with regard to the delimitation of the public domain of the State, counties, communes, towns or municipalities.

            Art. 24. - Within 30 days after the publishing of the present law in the "Monitorul Oficial" (Official Gazette of Romania), the Ministry of Finance shall elaborate the methodological standards provided under art. 18, which it shall subject for approval to the Government.

            Art. 25. - In the meaning of the present law, by the public domain syntagm included in art. 477 under the Civil Code shall be understood the private domain of the State or of the territorial-administrative units, as the case may be.

            Art. 26. - Within six months after the date of coming into force of the present law, the Government shall elaborate a draft law with regard to the restitution in kind or in equivalent of the buildings abusively taken over by the State in the period from 6 March 1945 to 22 December 1989.

            Art. 27. - The present law shall come into force within 60 days after the date of its publication in the "Monitorul Oficial" (Official Gazette of Romania). On the same date any disposition to the contrary shall be abrogated.

 

APPENDIX

 

LIST
including some goods forming the public domain of the State and territorial-administrative units

 

I. The public domain of the State shall consist of the following goods:

1. wealth of any kind of the subsoil, in a state of deposit;
2. the air space;
3. surface waters with their minor beds, shores and basins of lakes, underground waters, interior maritime waters, cliff and beach of the sea, with their natural wealth and their energy potential that can be turned to account, the territorial sea and bottom of maritime waters, interior navigable waterways;
4. forests and pieces of ground destinated for aforestation, those serving for the needs of silvic cultivation, production or administration, ponds, beds of rivulets as well as reproductive pieces of ground included in forest plannings which are part of the national forest fund and are not private property;
5. pieces of ground that belonged to the public domain of the State before 6 March 1945; pieces of ground obtained by damming, draining, and soil erosion control works; pieces of ground belonging to scientific research stations and institutes of silvicultural and agricultural education units destined for research, production of seed and seedlings from biological categories and animals of noble race;
6. national parks;
7. natural reservations and monuments of nature;
8. the natural estate of the "Delta Dunãrii" (Danube Delta) Biosphere Reservation;
9. the natural resources of the economic zone and of the continental shelf, together with the continental shelf;
10. infrastructure of railroads, tunnels and civil engineering art works included;
11. tunnels and underground caissons as well as installations relating to it;
12. national roads - motorways, express roads, European national roads, main or secondary;
13. navigable channels, basins of canals, hydrotechnical constructions relating to canals, locks, protections and consolidations of shores and slopes, safety zones on shores of canals, access roads and territories on which these are made;
14. electric power transport networks;
15. telecommunications frequency spectra, transport and distribution networks;
16. main channels and distribution networks for irrigations with the corresponding taps;
17. natural gas, crude oil, and petroleum products transport pipe lines;
18. reservoirs and their dams, in case the electric power producing activity is connected to the national energetic system or to those with blocks for the attenuation of high flood waves;
19. defence dams against floods;
20. water course regularization works;
21. hydrotechnical cabins, hydrological, meteorological, and water quality stations;
22. militaly and civil, river and maritime ports - the grounds on which these are situated, dams, quays, stone packings and other hydrotechnical constructions for the mooring of boats and for other activities of civil navigation, basins, access channels and aquatoria, technological roads in ports, historic monuments existing in ports, quays and stone packings situated on the shores of navigable waterways outside of port precincts destined for navigation activities;
23. grounds exclusively destined for military training;
24. frontier guard posts and fortifications for the country's defence;
25. take-off and landing runways, rolling ways and embarkation-debarkation platforms situated on them and the grounds on which they are located;
26. statues and monuments declared of national public interest;
27. archaeological and historical sites and ensembles;
28. museums, art collections declared of national public interest;
29. grounds and the buildings in which they unfold their activity the Parliament, Presidency, Government, ministries, and other specialist bodies of the central public administration and the public institutions subordinated to them; courts of judicature and public prosecutor's offices attached to them; units of the National Defence Ministry and of the Ministry of the Interior, of the public information services as well as those of the General Directorate of Prisons; the decentralized public services of the ministries and of the other specialist bodies of the central public administration as well as the prefectures except those acquired from own extrabudgetary revenues, which shall constitute their private property.
30. II. The public domain of the counties shall consist of the following goods:
• county roads;
• pieces of ground and buildings in which the county council and its own machinery deploy their activities as well as public institutions of county interest such as libraries, museums, county hospitals and similar goods, if not declared of local or national public interest or use;
• water supply networks achieved in microzonal or zonal system as well as water treatment stations with their corresponding installations, constructions and corresponding pieces of ground.
31. III. The local public domain of municipalities, towns, and communes shall consist of the following goods:
• communal roads, field ways, and streets;
• squares, commercial market places, fairs, cattle markets and public parks as well as recreation zones;
• lakes and beaches not declared of county or national public interest;
• water supply networks, sewers, district heating, and gas supply networks, as well as waste water treatment and clearance stations with corresponding pieces of ground, constructions and installations;
• pieces of ground and buildings in which the mayoralty and the local council as well as public institutions of local interest such as theatres, libraries, museums, hospitals, polyclinics and such like unfold their activity;
• social dwellings;
• statues and monuments, if not declared of national public interest;
• any kind of wealth of the subsoil in a state of deposit, if not declared of national public interest;
• pieces of ground with forestry destination, if not belonging to the private domain of the State, and if they are not the property of natural persons or of juristic persons of private law;
• communal and town cemeteries.

 

 

Published in the "Monitorul Oficial" (Official Gazette of Romania), Part I, No. 448 of November 24, 1998