The problematic aspects of judicial protection of the rights of owners of residential premises during relocation from unsafe housing in the Russian Federation

Abstract

One of the most relevant and at the same time problematic areas of protection of housing rights in Russia is the protection of the rights of citizens during relocation from dilapidated and unsafe housing. The resettlement from the uninhabitable housing stock is one of the most important areas of the social policy of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the process of resettlement of citizens does not always and not in all subjects of the Russian Federation proceed without conflict and in compliance with the requirements of federal legislation. The rights of citizens are often violated by local governments responsible for their resettlement, which forces them to resort to judicial and other legal protection procedures. Theoretical analysis. The introduction of amendments to the Housing Code of the Russian Federation in terms of the introduction of part 8.2 of article 32 created legal uncertainty in understanding the development of housing legal relations over time and the content of the principle of retroactive effect of the law. In practice, this has led to numerous litigations between local governments, that insist on the need for direct application of this rule, and citizens who have acquired ownership of residential premises in houses recognized as unsafe and have lost the right to receive new housing instead of uninhabitable. Empirical analysis. It was revealed that the courts of the first appeal and cassation instances, when considering the same category of cases, apply the norms of part 8.2 of article 32 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation in different ways. In some cases, the courts took the side of local governments, defining housing relations as continuing in time, others defended the positions of citizens who appealed to the facts of acquiring housing and including them in regional departmental resettlement programs before the relevant changes to housing legislation were made. An important role in eliminating uncertainty in judicial practice was played by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which, by its decision, confirmed the correctness of the positions of citizens. Results. The authors proposed the directions for improving the current housing legislation, which, according to their opinion, will ensure, among other things, the observance and protection of the rights of citizens.

Keywords

• housing legislation
• unsafe housing
• protection of citizens’ housing rights
• housing legal relations