During an extraordinary meeting of the Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs of the National Assembly, Nane Ghazaryan, Deputy Head of the Cadastre Committee of the Republic of Armenia, presented at first reading the package of draft laws on making amendments and addenda to the Law “On Making Amendments and Addenda to the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia” and related laws.

Under the amendments made to the Civil Code in 2021, a specific deadline was established for the registration and application for legalization of unauthorized structures constructed prior to the entry into force of those amendments.

At the same time, the legislation stipulated that unauthorized structures constructed after the amendments came into force would no longer be eligible for legalization. In practice, however, numerous issues have arisen in this regard. To address these issues and expand the possibilities for legalizing unauthorized structures, the existing legal regulations will be broadened, while stricter requirements will be introduced.

According to the rapporteur, the lack of a legal possibility to legalize certain unauthorized structures constructed after the adoption of the law does not, in all cases, serve the public interest.

In particular, there are cases where the demolition of such structures could result in the loss of existing economic and social value, whereas their legalization, subject to compliance with the relevant requirements, would contribute to clarifying the legal status of property, expanding economic activity, increasing revenues to state and local budgets, and ensuring the completeness of the real estate registration system.

The Committee issued a positive conclusion on the package of draft laws.