The following article by Sabine Verhest appeared in the newspaper "La Libre Belgique' on the 6th and 7th of October 1999.
Romania. An European decision soothes the heart of many Romanians. The difficult fight of the owners. A decision without precedent was issued recently in Strasbourg by the European Court of Human Rights. The judges have established in unanimity that Romania has violated the rights of Dan Brumarescu regarding his property and especially regarding his right to a fair trial and due process. Many East Europeans who have been trying to recover real estate nationalized or otherwise confiscated by the communists have been waiting for such an outcome. For Dan Brumarescu it all started in 1950 when his parents’ house in Bucharest was confiscated without compensation. At the fall of the Nicolae Ceausescu's regime he regained hope. He commenced legal action in Court which on December 9th 1993, ruled that the nationalization was illegal. A definitive and irrevocable decision permitting him to regain possession of the family house and to stop paying rent for the apartment he was occupying. But on March 1, 1995, the Supreme Court, denying the principle of judicial finality, voids the decision of 1993; the house is returned to the State Patrimony on April 2nd 1996. A deprivation of property, which cannot be justified, states the Strasbourg Court, by reason of "public necessity" with "no serious reason" provided.
An Interminable Trial. "The Brumarescu case is the news that we were waiting for 10 years. This shows that an owner can see justice delivered in a western legal system", was the reaction of Mr. Vinatoru, the president of the "Romanian American Committee for Private Property", a non-profit association created two years ago in the U.S. to assist the individuals trying to recover a house, a villa or an apartment taken illegally by the communist regime, which has also appropriated land and forests. In the current state of the legislation and administrative and judicial system in Romania, an attempt to recover property is tantamount to an almost insurmountable trial. In fact many give up, too old to have the energy of embarking in an interminable procedure, or too poor to find a good lawyer at a reasonable fee. "The lawyers ask for one million lei to represent a retiree who receives only 200,000 or 500,000 lei a month" is said with indignation in Bucharest at the "Association of the Owners whose real estate has been nationalized".
The Tenants Organize. Besides, Mr. Vinatoru adds that "the chance to reach an equitable result is slim"- a few thousands of the 240,000 nationalized buildings - and squandering the resources never makes sense. Especially in the case that a person recovers his/her apartment he/she will not be able necessarily to enjoy it: the tenants themselves are organizing to defend themselves and to remain inside "their" four walls. They are supported by politicians who themselves, or their relatives, profit from the system by renting luxury villas for nominal rent.
Sold. To further complicate matters, states Mr.Vinatoru," about 88,000 properties were sold to the tenants at ridiculously low prices since 1989"without the agreement of the rightful owners. And among the tenants are again high functionaries or politicians. This "relationship" was unveiled in 1994 in a report by Mr. Valerian Stan at the request of the Parliament and was buried immediately. Mr. Vinatoru tells that "the main problem is the Romanian Parliament, the Government and the President". Almost 100 members of the Parliament of which 42 of the Democratic Convention, the party of President Constantinescu and Prime Minister Vasile, have bought real estate in this fashion. Yet in 1996, when he was a candidate, Emil Constantinescu, was considering the law currently in action, the one promulgated in 1995 as a "shame" a text "to be changed totally" for the goal of "supporting the fundamental right to property" and of "compensating fairly the owners whose property has been destroyed, about 150,000. The Assembly of the European Council did not ask for anything else in 1997 when it requested an equitable legislation in this matter." We will return the properties confiscated by the communist regime and reconfiscated by the Iliescu regime" (Ion Iliescu was the neo-communist President from1990 to 1996) has further promised Mr. Constantinescu.
Ten years of waiting. And today still nothing. Many law projects have been repealed. From official sources, neither the presidency nor the Parliament has forgotten this sensitive subject. A commission was even empowered to estimate the budget necessary to compensate financially the owners whose property was demolished. During this time the legitimate owners or their heirs continue to wait. Ten years have already passed.
Translated by Dr. Anca Popa