Dispute over access road: court restores right of way
Our law firm successfully represented clients in a case that, while seemingly unusual, raised a critical issue: a 6-meter-wide access road to a land plot had “disappeared” during cadastral measurements.
The situation was absurd. Just days before the approval of new cadastral data, the National Land Service (NLS) was reviewing our clients’ request to plan an access road. The review was postponed for two weeks, during which the road – although marked in archived plans – was left out of the newly approved cadastral file.
Though the NLS acknowledged the error, they could not correct it without the landowner’s consent. As a result, the owners of a land parcel at the end of the road were formally left without access for over 3 years.
The first-instance court ruled to annul the registration of the road as part of a private parcel and found that the surveyor should have followed original property boundary documents. The appellate court upheld this, confirming that boundaries restored through ownership restitution cannot later be altered via measurements.
Key takeaways for landowners and businesses:
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Original boundary records matter. Surveyors must follow archived cadastral sketches and boundary acts.
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Double-check your surveyor. Ensure they have all documents. A “more convenient” boundary can later cause legal trouble.
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Limited institutional powers. The NLS cannot fix cadastral data without the landowner’s consent – sometimes, the only way forward is court.
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Recovering damages. In this case, the surveyor’s actions led to litigation costs, re-measurements, and potential personal liability.
Need help with land or real estate disputes?
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