Abstract

For many years, the issue of claims for compensation for so-called „Warsaw properties” has been arousing many doubts. The normative form of a decree application, which is a prerequisite for the award of compensation, as well as prerequisites for its correct submission, are set out in Art. 7(1) of the Warsaw Decree of 26 October 1945. The controversies relating to this provision concern, in particular, the question whether the requirement of possession, as one of the conditions for granting the right of perpetual usufruct or a building permit, applies exclusively to the legal successors of the original owner, or whether it also applies to the current owner. In the opinion of the author, the problem of correct assessment of the subjective scope of the requirement of „possession” should be solved by adopting arguments of an intertemporal nature. Art. 7(1) of the Warsaw Decree should be interpreted on the basis of the regulations in force at the time when that condition was to be met. For this reason, the article analyses the law of succession under the Napoleonic Code, as well as other normative acts regulating the issue of succession, with a view to linking the institution of possession to the law of succession.