ENTRY OF "STATE" AS OWNER WITHOUT SOC CONSENT CONTRARY TO REGULATIONS

BANJA LUKA, JANUARY 21 /SRNA/ – The registration of the "state" as the owner in the harmonization procedure, without the consent of the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ or a previously conducted civil lawsuit establishing ownership rights, is not in line with the regulations of the Federation of BiH /FBiH/ and may be legally challenged, SRNA was told at the Republic Administration for Geodetic and Property-Legal Affairs /RUGIPP/.

Commenting on the fact that the Municipal Court in Mostar registered property of the Serbian Orthodox Church-two Orthodox cemeteries and a chapel—as "state" property, RUGIPP explained that the harmonization procedure of land registers and cadastre allows entries to be made, but that procedure serves exclusively to align existing records and correct technical discrepancies, not to establish new ownership. "Harmonization does not allow changing ownership of real estate without a valid legal basis and without the participation of interested parties. In such proceedings, the court is obliged to notify all rights holders and allow them to submit objections and evidence," they emphasized from RUGIPP. The Municipal Court in Mostar, after registering the Orthodox cemetery in the Vrapčići neighborhood as "state" property in the land register, did the same with a chapel and another Orthodox cemetery on a separate plot, the Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Serbs in the FBiH previously stated. The Committee stated that the Mostar court carried out the registration of "state" ownership over property of the Serbian Orthodox Church during the harmonization of the land register and cadastre for the cadastral municipality of Vrapčići.